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Mahmoud HY, Rady AA, Tanaka T. Molecular detection and characterization of Theileria annulata, Babesia bovis, and Babesia bigemina infecting cattle and buffalo in southern Egypt. Parasite Epidemiol Control 2024; 25:e00340. [PMID: 38333559 PMCID: PMC10847785 DOI: 10.1016/j.parepi.2024.e00340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2023] [Revised: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/28/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Tick-borne diseases have a major adverse effect on livestock worldwide, causing enormous economic losses in meat and milk production as well threatening animal and public health. In this study, we aimed to detect and characterize piroplasms isolated from cattle and buffalo in southern Egypt, using molecular techniques. Three hundred blood samples were collected from cattle and buffalo in two governorates in southern Egypt. All 300 samples (100%) were confirmed to contain DNA, as they exhibited bands of bovine β-actin gene at the expected 227 bp for cattle and buffalo. The samples were analyzed by PCR for the presence of piroplasms, specifically Babesia bovis, Babesia bigemina, and Theileria annulata. Samples positive for the piroplasma 18S ribosomal RNA gene were further examined for two additional genes, spherical body protein 4 gene, to provide an enhanced degree of specificity for the identification of B. bovis and B. bigemina, and the major merozoite surface antigen gene for T. annulata. The infection rate for piroplasma spp. was 60/300 (20%). The positivity rates were 10.7% (32/300) for T. annulata, 5.3% (16/300) for B. bovis, and 4% (12/300) for B. bigemina. By host species, 42/150 (28%) cattle and 18/150 (12%) buffalo were positive for piroplasms. None of the isolates sequenced for the B. bovis isolates from buffalo in this study showed 100% identity with any sequence deposited in GenBank for the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (maximum identity value = 99.74%). Similarly, no T. annulata small subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequence identified in this study exhibited 100% identity with any sequence deposited in GenBank (maximum identity value = 99.89%). The current study provides a partial sequence of the T. annulata merozoite-piroplasm surface antigen gene, as well as the B. bovis and B. bigemina spherical body protein 4 genes, in cattle and buffalo in southern Egypt, and is the first report on these piroplasma genes in cattle and buffalo in southern Egypt.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hassan Y.A.H. Mahmoud
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Animal Medicine Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena 83523, Egypt
| | - Abdelrahman A. Rady
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Animal Medicine Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena 83523, Egypt
| | - Tetsuya Tanaka
- Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, Joint Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan
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Ul Rehman Z, Suleman M, Ashraf K, Ali S, Rahman S, Rashid MI. Immuno-bioinformatic approach for designing of multi-epitope merozoite surface antigen of Babesia bigemina and evaluation of its immunogenicity in inoculated calves. Pol J Vet Sci 2023; 26:409-418. [PMID: 37727102 DOI: 10.24425/pjvs.2023.145047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/21/2023]
Abstract
Babesiosis is a parasitic disease caused by intraerythrocytic parasites of the genus Babesia, which infect both wild and domestic animals. Merozoite surface antigens (MSAs) have been identified as efficient immunogens in Babesia-infected animals. MSAs play a key role in the invasion process and have been proposed as potential targets for vaccine development. Epitope-based vaccines offer several advantages over whole protein vaccines as the immunogenic proteins are small and can induce both Th1 and Th2 immune responses, which are desirable for protection. However, the MSA, particularly gp45, is polymorphic in Babesia bigemina, posing a challenge to vaccine development. The purpose of this study was to develop a recombinant gpME (gp45-multi-epitope) for a vaccine against Babesia bigemina. B-cell, T-cell, and HLA epitope predictions were used to synthesize the gpME sequence from the consensus sequence of gp45. The gpME sequence was synthesized and cloned in the pET28α vector through the commercial biotechnology company to get pET28-gpME. The plasmid cloned with the gpME sequence comprising 1068 bp was expressed in a bacterial expression system. A band of 39 kDa of rec-gpME was obtained via SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. Rec-gpME @200ng was injected in calves 3 times at 2 weeks interval. The humoral response was evaluated through the indirect ELISA method. The ELISA with rec-gp45 protein showed a significant value of optical density. The recombinant protein containing multiple epitopes from the MSA gp45 may represent a promising candidate for a vaccine against Babesia bigemina.
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Affiliation(s)
- Z Ul Rehman
- Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Syed Abdul Qadir Jillani (Out Fall) Road, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
| | - M Suleman
- University Diagnostic Laboratory, Institute of Microbiology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Syed Abdul Qadir Jillani (Out Fall) Road, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
| | - K Ashraf
- Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Syed Abdul Qadir Jillani (Out Fall) Road, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
| | - S Ali
- Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Syed Abdul Qadir Jillani (Out Fall) Road, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
| | - S Rahman
- Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Syed Abdul Qadir Jillani (Out Fall) Road, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
| | - M I Rashid
- Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Syed Abdul Qadir Jillani (Out Fall) Road, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
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Calvopiña M, Montesdeoca-Andrade M, Bastidas-Caldes C, Enriquez S, Rodríguez-Hidalgo R, Aguilar-Rodríguez D, Cooper P. Case report: First report on human infection by tick-borne Babesia bigemina in the Amazon region of Ecuador. Front Public Health 2023; 11:1079042. [PMID: 37601195 PMCID: PMC10436305 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1079042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Babesiosis is a protozoan disease acquired by the bite of different species of ticks. More than 100 Babesia spp. infect wild and domestic animals worldwide, but only a few have been documented to infect humans. Generally, babesiosis is asymptomatic in immunocompetent persons; however, in immunocompromised can be life-threatening. A 13-year-old boy from the Amazon region presented with a 3-month evolution of fever, chills, general malaise, and arthralgia accompanied by anemia and jaundice. In the last 4 years was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure. By nested-PCR using 18S RNA ribosomal gene as target and DNA sequencing, the phylogenetic analysis showed Babesia bigemina as the causative agent in the blood. Treatment with oral quinine plus clindamycin for six continuous weeks was effective with no relapse occurring during 12 months of follow-up. This is the second human case in Ecuador but the first caused by the zoonotic B. bigemina which confirms the existence of active transmission that should alert public health decision-making authorities on the emergence of this zoonosis and the need for research to determine strategies to reduce tick exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Calvopiña
- One Health Research Group, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de las Américas (UDLA), Quito, Ecuador
| | | | - Carlos Bastidas-Caldes
- One Health Research Group, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Aplicadas (FICA), Universidad de las Américas (UDLA), Quito, Ecuador
- Programa de Doctorado en Salud Pública y Animal, Universidad de Extremadura, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain
| | - Sandra Enriquez
- Instituto de Investigación en Zoonosis (CIZ), Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Richar Rodríguez-Hidalgo
- Instituto de Investigación en Zoonosis (CIZ), Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
- Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | | | - Philip Cooper
- Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Internacional del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, St. George's University of London, London, United Kingdom
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Heylen DJA, Kumsa B, Kimbita E, Frank MN, Muhanguzi D, Jongejan F, Adehan SB, Toure A, Aboagye-Antwi F, Ogo NI, Juleff N, Crafford D, Fourie J, Labuchange M, Madder M. Tick-borne pathogens and body condition of cattle in smallholder rural livestock production systems in East and West Africa. Parasit Vectors 2023; 16:117. [PMID: 36998091 PMCID: PMC10064580 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-023-05709-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 02/18/2023] [Indexed: 04/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The majority of the African population lives in rural areas where they heavily depend on crop and livestock production for their livelihoods. Given their socio-economic importance, we initiated a standardized multi-country (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia Tanzania and Uganda) surveillance study to assess the current status of important tick-borne haemoparasites (TBHPs) of cattle. METHODS We assessed pathogen prevalences (Anaplasma marginale, Anaplasma centrale, Babesia bigemina, Babesia bovis, Ehrlichia ruminantium, and Theileria parva) in the blood of 6447 animals spread over fourteen districts (two districts per country). In addition, we screened for intrinsic (sex, weight, body condition) and extrinsic (husbandry, tick exposure) risk factors as predictors of infections with TBHPs. RESULTS There was a large macro-geographic variation observed in A. marginale, B. bigemina, B. bovis and E. ruminantium prevalences. Most correlated with the co-occurrence of their specific sets of vector-competent ticks. Highest numbers of infected cattle were found in Ghana and Benin, and lowest in Burkina Faso. While T. parva was seldomly found (Uganda only: 3.0%), A. marginale was found in each country with a prevalence of at least 40%. Babesia bovis infected individuals had lower body condition scores. Age (as estimated via body weight) was higher in A. marginale infected cattle, but was negatively correlated with B. bigemina and E. ruminantium prevalences. Ehrlichia ruminantium infection was more often found in males, and A. marginale more often in transhumance farming. High levels of co-infection, especially the combination A. marginale × B. bigemina, were observed in all countries, except for Uganda and Burkina Faso. Babesia bigemina was more or less often observed than expected by chance, when cattle were also co-infected with E. ruminantium or A. marginale, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Tick-borne pathogens of cattle are ubiquitous in African's smallholder cattle production systems. Our standardized study will help a wide range of stakeholders to provide recommendations for TBHP surveillance and prevention in cattle, especially for B. bovis which heavily impacts production and continues its spread over the African continent via the invasive Rhipicephalus microplus tick.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dieter J A Heylen
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
- Eco-Epidemiology Group, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
- Interuniversity Institute for Biostatistics and Statistical Bioinformatics, Hasselt University, Diepenbeek, Belgium.
| | - Bersissa Kumsa
- Department of Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture, Addis Ababa University, Bishoftu, Ethiopia
| | - Elikira Kimbita
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Sokoine University of Agriculture, PO Box 3019, Morogoro, Tanzania
| | - Mwiine Nobert Frank
- Department of Bio-Molecular Resources and Bio-Laboratory Sciences (BBS), College of Veterinary Medicine, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
| | - Dennis Muhanguzi
- Department of Bio-Molecular Resources and Bio-Laboratory Sciences (BBS), College of Veterinary Medicine, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
| | - Frans Jongejan
- Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, South Africa
| | - Safiou Bienvenu Adehan
- Zootechnical, Veterinary and Halieutic Research Laboratory (LRZVH), National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRAB), 01 BP 884, Cotonou, Benin
| | - Alassane Toure
- Université Nangui Abrogoua, UFR Sciences de La Nature, 02 Bp 801, Abidjan 02, Côte d'Ivoire
| | - Fred Aboagye-Antwi
- Department of Animal Biology and Conservation Science, School of Biological Sciences, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, Ghana
| | - Ndudim Isaac Ogo
- National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau State, Nigeria
| | - Nick Juleff
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Dionne Crafford
- Clinvet International Pty (Ltd), 1479 Talmadge Hill South, Waverly, NY, 14892, USA
| | - Josephus Fourie
- Clinvet International Pty (Ltd), 1479 Talmadge Hill South, Waverly, NY, 14892, USA
| | | | - Maxime Madder
- Clinglobal, B03/04, The Tamarin Commercial Hub, Jacaranda Avenue, Tamarin, 90903, Mauritius
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Mosqueda J, Hernandez-Silva DJ, Ueti MW, Cruz-Reséndiz A, Marquez-Cervantez R, Valdez-Espinoza UM, Dang-Trinh MA, Nguyen TT, Camacho-Nuez M, Mercado-Uriostegui MA, Aguilar-Tipacamú G, Ramos-Aragon JA, Hernandez-Ortiz R, Kawazu SI, Igarashi I. Spherical Body Protein 4 from Babesia bigemina: A Novel Gene That Contains Conserved B-Cell Epitopes and Induces Cross-Reactive Neutralizing Antibodies in Babesia ovata. Pathogens 2023; 12:pathogens12030495. [PMID: 36986418 PMCID: PMC10051436 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens12030495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2023] [Revised: 03/18/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Bovine babesiosis is a tick-transmitted disease caused by intraerythrocytic protozoan parasites of the genus Babesia. Its main causative agents in the Americas are Babesia bigemina and Babesia bovis, while Babesia ovata affects cattle in Asia. All Babesia species secrete proteins stored in organelles of the apical complex, which are involved in all steps of the invasion process of vertebrate host cells. Unlike other apicomplexans, which have dense granules, babesia parasites instead have large, round intracellular organelles called spherical bodies. Evidence suggests that proteins from these organelles are released during the process of invading red blood cells, where spherical body proteins (SBPs) play an important role in cytoskeleton reorganization. In this study, we characterized the gene that encodes SBP4 in B. bigemina. This gene is transcribed and expressed in the erythrocytic stages of B. bigemina. The sbp4 gene consists of 834 nucleotides without introns that encode a protein of 277 amino acids. In silico analysis predicted a signal peptide that is cleaved at residue 20, producing a 28.88-kDa protein. The presence of a signal peptide and the absence of transmembrane domains suggest that this protein is secreted. Importantly, when cattle were immunized with recombinant B. bigemina SBP4, antibodies identified B. bigemina and B. ovata merozoites according to confocal microscopy observations and were able to neutralize parasite multiplication in vitro for both species. Four peptides with predicted B-cell epitopes were identified to be conserved in 17 different isolates from six countries. Compared with the pre-immunization sera, antibodies against these conserved peptides reduced parasite invasion in vitro by 57%, 44%, 42%, and 38% for peptides 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively (p < 0.05). Moreover, sera from cattle infected with B. bigemina cattle contained antibodies that recognized the individual peptides. All these results support the concept of spb4 as a new gene in B. bigemina that should be considered a candidate for a vaccine to control bovine babesiosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Mosqueda
- Immunology and Vaccines Laboratory, C. A. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Carretera a Chichimequillas, Ejido Bolaños, Queretaro 76140, Mexico
- C.A. Salud Animal y Microbiologia Ambiental, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Av. de las Ciencias s/n Col Juriquilla, Queretaro 76230, Mexico
| | - Diego Josimar Hernandez-Silva
- Immunology and Vaccines Laboratory, C. A. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Carretera a Chichimequillas, Ejido Bolaños, Queretaro 76140, Mexico
- Ph.D. Program in Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Autonomous University of Queretaro, Av. de las Ciencias s/n Col Juriquilla, Queretaro 76230, Mexico
| | - Massaro W Ueti
- Animal Diseases Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, Pullman, WA 99164, USA
| | - Adolfo Cruz-Reséndiz
- Immunology and Vaccines Laboratory, C. A. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Carretera a Chichimequillas, Ejido Bolaños, Queretaro 76140, Mexico
- Veterinary Medicine Program, College of Natural Sciences, Autonomous University of Queretaro, Av. de las Ciencias s/n Col Juriquilla, Queretaro 76230, Mexico
| | - Ricardo Marquez-Cervantez
- Immunology and Vaccines Laboratory, C. A. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Carretera a Chichimequillas, Ejido Bolaños, Queretaro 76140, Mexico
- Veterinary Medicine Program, College of Natural Sciences, Autonomous University of Queretaro, Av. de las Ciencias s/n Col Juriquilla, Queretaro 76230, Mexico
| | - Uriel Mauricio Valdez-Espinoza
- Immunology and Vaccines Laboratory, C. A. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Carretera a Chichimequillas, Ejido Bolaños, Queretaro 76140, Mexico
- Master's Program in Animal Health and Production, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Av. Universidad 3000, Edificio A, Delegacion Coyoacan, Col. Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
- CENID-Salud Animal e Inocuidad/INIFAP, Carretera Federal Cuernavaca-Cuautla #8534, Col. Progreso, Jiutepec 62574, Mexico
| | - Minh-Anh Dang-Trinh
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro 080-8555, Japan
| | - Thu-Thuy Nguyen
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro 080-8555, Japan
| | - Minerva Camacho-Nuez
- Posgrado en Ciencias Genomicas, Universidad Autonoma de la Ciudad de Mexico, San Lorenzo 290, Esquina Roberto Gayol, Col. del Valle Sur, Delegacion Benito Juarez, Mexico City 03100, Mexico
| | - Miguel Angel Mercado-Uriostegui
- Immunology and Vaccines Laboratory, C. A. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Carretera a Chichimequillas, Ejido Bolaños, Queretaro 76140, Mexico
- C.A. Salud Animal y Microbiologia Ambiental, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Av. de las Ciencias s/n Col Juriquilla, Queretaro 76230, Mexico
| | - Gabriela Aguilar-Tipacamú
- C.A. Salud Animal y Microbiologia Ambiental, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Av. de las Ciencias s/n Col Juriquilla, Queretaro 76230, Mexico
| | - Juan Alberto Ramos-Aragon
- CENID-Salud Animal e Inocuidad/INIFAP, Carretera Federal Cuernavaca-Cuautla #8534, Col. Progreso, Jiutepec 62574, Mexico
| | - Ruben Hernandez-Ortiz
- CENID-Salud Animal e Inocuidad/INIFAP, Carretera Federal Cuernavaca-Cuautla #8534, Col. Progreso, Jiutepec 62574, Mexico
| | - Shin-Ichiro Kawazu
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro 080-8555, Japan
| | - Ikuo Igarashi
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro 080-8555, Japan
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Chisu V, Serra E, Foxi C, Chessa G, Masala G. Molecular Investigation of Theileria and Babesia Species in Domestic Mammals from Sardinia, Italy. Vet Sci 2023; 10:vetsci10010059. [PMID: 36669060 PMCID: PMC9865784 DOI: 10.3390/vetsci10010059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2022] [Revised: 12/28/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Piroplasmoses are tick-borne diseases caused by hemoprotozoan parasites of veterinary and public health significance. This study focuses on the molecular identification and characterization of species belonging to the Theileria/Babesia genera in 152 blood samples, collected from 80 horses and 72 cattle from several farms in Sardinia, by targeting the 18S rRNA gene. The PCR results highlighted that 72% of the samples were positive for Theileria/Babesia spp., with a rate of infection of 68% and 75% for the horses and cattle, respectively. Sequencing and the BLASTn analysis showed that the 18S rRNA generated in this study has 99-100% homology with the B. bigemina, T. orientalis/sergenti/buffeli, T. equi and T. annulata strains isolated from different hosts worldwide. These findings improve the knowledge on Babesia and Theileria infections in domestic mammals and confirm the significant prevalence of piroplasmosis among subclinical and carrier animals throughout the island. Furthermore, the presence of T. annulata, reported for the first time in the study area, expands the repertoire of pathogens already detected in Sardinia. Our results gather updates on the diversity and distribution of piroplasms in Sardinia and suggest the need to develop procedures to improve animal and public health safety.
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Srionrod N, Nooroong P, Poolsawat N, Minsakorn S, Watthanadirek A, Junsiri W, Sangchuai S, Chawengkirttikul R, Anuracpreeda P. Molecular characterization and genetic diversity of Babesia bovis and Babesia bigemina of cattle in Thailand. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:1065963. [PMID: 36523637 PMCID: PMC9744959 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.1065963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Babesia bovis and B. bigemina are the most common tick-borne parasites that cause bovine babesiosis which effects livestock production, leading to economic losses in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. The aims of this study were to determine the molecular detection, genetic diversity and antigenicity prediction of B. bovis based on spherical body protein 2 (sbp-2) gene and B. bigemina based on rhoptry-associated protein 1a (rap-1a) gene in cattle in Thailand. By PCR assay, the molecular detection of B. bovis and B. bigemina infection revealed levels of 2.58% (4/155) and 5.80% (9/155), respectively. The phylograms showed that B. bovis sbp-2 and B. bigemina rap-1a sequences displayed 5 and 3 clades with similarity ranging between 85.53 to 100% and 98.28 to 100%, respectively, when compared within Thailand strain. Diversity analysis of sbp-2 and rap-1a sequences showed 18 and 4 haplotypes, respectively. The entropy analysis illustrated 104 and 7 polymorphic sites of sbp-2 and rap-1a nucleic acid sequences, respectively, while those of sbp-2 and rap-1a amino acid sequences showed 46 and 4 high entropy peaks, respectively. Motifs analysis exhibited the distribution and conservation among sbp-2 and rap-1a sequences. The continuous and discontinuous B-cell epitopes have also been evaluated in this work. Therefore, our findings may be used to ameliorate the understanding inputs of molecular phylogeny, genetic diversity and antigenicity of B. bovis and B. bigemina Thailand stains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nitipon Srionrod
- Parasitology Research Laboratory (PRL), Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
| | - Pornpiroon Nooroong
- Parasitology Research Laboratory (PRL), Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
| | - Napassorn Poolsawat
- Parasitology Research Laboratory (PRL), Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
| | - Sutthida Minsakorn
- Parasitology Research Laboratory (PRL), Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
| | - Amaya Watthanadirek
- Parasitology Research Laboratory (PRL), Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
| | - Witchuta Junsiri
- Parasitology Research Laboratory (PRL), Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
| | - Siriphan Sangchuai
- Parasitology Research Laboratory (PRL), Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand,Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | | | - Panat Anuracpreeda
- Parasitology Research Laboratory (PRL), Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand,*Correspondence: Panat Anuracpreeda, ;
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Githaka NW, Bishop RP, Šlapeta J, Emery D, Nguu EK, Kanduma EG. Molecular survey of Babesia parasites in Kenya: first detailed report on occurrence of Babesia bovis in cattle. Parasit Vectors 2022; 15:161. [PMID: 35526030 PMCID: PMC9077973 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-022-05279-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2021] [Accepted: 04/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Among protozoan parasites in the genus Babesia, Babesia bigemina is endemic and widespread in the East African region while the status of the more pathogenic Babesia bovis remains unclear despite the presence of the tick vector, Rhipicephalus microplus, which transmits both species. Recent studies have confirmed the occurrence of R. microplus in coastal Kenya, and although B. bovis DNA has previously been detected in cattle blood in Kenya, no surveillance has been done to establish its prevalence. This study therefore investigated the occurrence of B. bovis in cattle in Kwale County, Kenya, where R. microplus is present in large numbers. METHODS A species-specific multiplex TaqMan real-time PCR assay targeting two Babesia bovis genes, 18S ribosomal RNA and mitochondrially-encoded cytochrome b and B. bigemina cytochrome b gene was used to screen 506 cattle blood DNA samples collected from Kwale County for presence of Babesia parasite DNA. A sub-set of 29 B. bovis real-time PCR-positive samples were further amplified using a B. bovis-specific spherical body protein-4 (SBP-4) nested PCR and the resulting products sequenced to confirm the presence of B. bovis. RESULTS A total of 131 animals (25.8%) were found to have bovine babesiosis based on real-time PCR. Twenty-four SBP4 nucleotide sequences obtained matched to B. bovis with a similarity of 97-100%. Of 131 infected animals, 87 (17.2%) were positive for B. bovis while 70 (13.8%) had B. bigemina and 26 (5.1%) were observed to be co-infected with both Babesia species. A total of 61 animals (12.1%) were found to be infected with B. bovis parasites only, while 44 animals (8.7%) had B. bigemina only. Babesia bovis and B. bigemina infections were detected in the three Kwale sub-counties. CONCLUSION These findings reveal high prevalence of pathogenic B. bovis in a Kenyan area cutting across a busy transboundary livestock trade route with neighbouring Tanzania. The Babesia multiplex real-time PCR assay used in this study is specific and can detect and differentiate the two Babesia species and should be used for routine B. bovis surveillance to monitor the spread and establishment of the pathogen in other African countries where B. bigemina is endemic. Moreover, these findings highlight the threat of fatal babesiosis caused by B. bovis, whose endemic status is yet to be established. GRAPHICAL ABTRACT.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Jan Šlapeta
- Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - David Emery
- Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Edward K Nguu
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Esther G Kanduma
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
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Heller LM, Zapa DMB, Couto LFM, de Aquino Gontijo LM, Nicaretta JE, de Morais IML, Salvador VF, Leal LLLL, Ferreira LL, Iuasse HV, Scarpa AB, de Souza Martins JR, Soares VE, de Oliveira Monteiro CM, Lopes WDZ. Techniques for monitoring dairy calves against the tick fever agents: a comparative analysis. Vet Res Commun 2022; 46:879-902. [PMID: 35362860 DOI: 10.1007/s11259-022-09915-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 03/14/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Data regarding parasitemia (blood smears), rectal temperature (RT), packed cell volume (PCV) and vaginal mucosa coloration (VMC) of Gyr x Holstein female calves between 3-7mo were accessed to evaluate different techniques for monitoring the bovine tick fever agents (TFA). The 1st experiment determined the correlation between the TFA parasitemia with RT and PCV. The 2nd, evaluated the associated risk of A. marginale parasitemia with RT and PCV in relation to the Gyr/Holstein genetic proportion (5/8,3/4,7/8 and 15/16) using Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (ROC). The 3rd, two groups were performed: cattle monitored by RT (T01) and by PCV (T02), during their 80-210 days of age, data regarding TFA parasitemia, RT, PCV, VMC and weight were registered. In 1st experiment, RT showed weak correlation with TFA parasitemia, while PCV showed a strong correlation with A. marginale and B. bigemina, but not with B. bovis parasitemia. In experiment 2, the ROC curve analysis showed that when the genetic proportion of B. t. taurus increased, least reliable RT was to monitor calves infected with A. marginale. The PCV for monitoring A. marginale was the best technique, showing sensitivity of 74.2% and specificity of 97.0% than other techniques that used RT and VCM as a monitoring tool. In general, calves monitored by PCV (T02) showed higher PCV values, lower A. marginale parasitemia, less pneumonia as co-infection and less salvation treatment were performed than in animals monitored by RT (T01). Furthermore, animals from T02 gained 23.5 kg more than those from T01. The low frequency of B. bovis and B. bigemina found in this study made impossible to compare the monitoring techniques for these pathogenic agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luciana Maffini Heller
- Centro de Parasitologia Veterinária, Escola de Veterinária E Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
| | - Dina María Beltrán Zapa
- Centro de Parasitologia Veterinária, Escola de Veterinária E Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
| | - Luiz Fellipe Monteiro Couto
- Centro de Parasitologia Veterinária, Escola de Veterinária E Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
| | - Lídia Mendes de Aquino Gontijo
- Centro de Parasitologia Veterinária, Escola de Veterinária E Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
| | - João Eduardo Nicaretta
- Centro de Parasitologia Veterinária, Escola de Veterinária E Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
| | - Igor Maciel Lopes de Morais
- Centro de Parasitologia Veterinária, Escola de Veterinária E Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
| | - Vanessa Ferreira Salvador
- Centro de Parasitologia Veterinária, Escola de Veterinária E Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
| | - Luccas Lourenzzo Lima Lins Leal
- Centro de Parasitologia Veterinária, Escola de Veterinária E Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
| | - Lorena Lopes Ferreira
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Escola de Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Hariye Victória Iuasse
- Centro de Parasitologia Veterinária, Escola de Veterinária E Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
| | | | | | | | - Caio Marcio de Oliveira Monteiro
- Centro de Parasitologia Veterinária, Escola de Veterinária E Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil.,Departamento de Biociências E Tecnologia, Instituto de Patologia Tropical E Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
| | - Welber Daniel Zanetti Lopes
- Centro de Parasitologia Veterinária, Escola de Veterinária E Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. .,Departamento de Biociências E Tecnologia, Instituto de Patologia Tropical E Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil.
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10
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Satti RA, Awadelkareem EA, Suganuma K, Salim B, Inoue N, Xuan X, Rehan S, Mossaad E. Cattle anaplasmosis and babesiosis: Major tick-borne diseases affecting the cattle industry in Khartoum State, Sudan. Vet Parasitol Reg Stud Reports 2021; 26:100632. [PMID: 34879943 DOI: 10.1016/j.vprsr.2021.100632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2021] [Revised: 06/29/2021] [Accepted: 08/31/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Tick-borne hemoparasitic (TBH) infections are a major problem affecting livestock industries worldwide, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. This study was carried out in response to repeated reports from local veterinarians in Khartoum State, Sudan, where TBH infections are prevalent in dairy farms. This cross-sectional study was undertaken from October 2017 to April 2018 with the objective of assessing the prevalence and potential risk factors associated with cattle anaplasmosis and babesiosis in the localities of Omdurman, Khartoum, and Khartoum North, Khartoum State. A total of 292 cattle blood samples collected from apparently healthy animals were examined for the presence of A. marginale, Babesia bigemina, and B. bovis using PCR. The overall prevalence of A. marginale and B. bigemina was found to be 40.41% and 3.42%, respectively, while B. bovis was not detected. Mixed infections with A. marginale and B. bigemina were detected in four (1.37%) cattle. The prevalence of the two pathogens was found to be significantly higher in Khartoum and Omdurman than in Khartoum North. However, no significant difference was observed for the prevalence based on sex, age, breed, and mean packed cell volume values. Our findings indicated that A. marginale is a highly prevalent parasite in Khartoum State, which may be a primary constraint to the cattle industry. Inclusion of this pathogen in the diagnostic protocols, and consequent treatment and tick control are necessary. Moreover, the role of B. bigemina infection may exacerbate the situation to some extent in this region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rawan A Satti
- Department of Pathology, Parasitology and Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sudan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 204, Khartoum, Sudan
| | - Eman A Awadelkareem
- Department of Pathology, Parasitology and Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sudan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 204, Khartoum, Sudan
| | - Keisuke Suganuma
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan; Research Center for Global Agromedicine, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan
| | - Bashir Salim
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Khartoum, P.O Box 32, Khartoum-North, Sudan
| | - Noboru Inoue
- Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan
| | - Xuenan Xuan
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan
| | - Suheir Rehan
- Department of Pathology, Parasitology and Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sudan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 204, Khartoum, Sudan
| | - Ehab Mossaad
- Department of Pathology, Parasitology and Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sudan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 204, Khartoum, Sudan; National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan.
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Chávez-Larrea MA, Cholota-Iza C, Medina-Naranjo V, Yugcha-Díaz M, Ron-Román J, Martin-Solano S, Gómez-Mendoza G, Saegerman C, Reyna-Bello A. Detection of Babesia spp. in High Altitude Cattle in Ecuador, Possible Evidence of the Adaptation of Vectors and Diseases to New Climatic Conditions. Pathogens 2021; 10:pathogens10121593. [PMID: 34959548 PMCID: PMC8703962 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens10121593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2021] [Revised: 11/26/2021] [Accepted: 12/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Babesia species are intraerythrocytic protozoa, distributed in tropical and subtropical areas of the world, causing anemic diseases in many animals, including cattle. This disease, called babesisosis, is transmitted from one animal to another through ticks (Tick Borne-Disease or TBD). On the other hand, Ecuador has a tropical climate that allows the development of the vector Rhipicephalus microplus, and therefore favors the transmission of Babesia spp. in cattle. Methods and principal findings: We determined the presence of Babesia spp. by PCR using 18s ribosomal gene as target (18s PCR) in 20 farms in the area of El Carmen (zone below 300 m above sea level) and 1 farm in Quito (2469 m.a.s.l.). In addition, we analyzed parameters such as age, sex, and packed cell volume (PCV) as explanatory variable associated with the disease. Results: The 18s PCR test showed that 18.94% (14.77% Babesia bovis and 4.17% Babesia bigemina) and 20.28% (14.69% B. bovis and 5.59% B. bigemina) of the cattle were positive for Babesia spp in farms sampled in El Carmen and in Quito, respectively. Age influenced the presence of animals positive for Babesia spp., but sex and PCV did not. The phylogenetic analysis of sequences showed 4 isolates of B. bovis and 3 isolates of B. bigemina in the 2 study zones, with similarities between 99.73 and 100% with other sequences. One B. bovis isolate was similar in the zone of El Carmen and Quito. Conclusion and significance: This work is the first molecular characterization of B. bigemina and B. bovis in Ecuador, and it is also the first evidence of Babesia spp. in cattle in the area of Quito at an altitude of 2469 m.a.s.l., being the highest altitude reported for animals with babesiosis and for the tick R. microplus. Climatic factors as well as mobility of tick-carrying animals without any control allow the presence of Babesiosis outbreaks in new geographical areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- María A. Chávez-Larrea
- Research Unit of Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Applied to Veterinary Sciences (UREAR-ULiège), Fundamental and Applied Research for Animal and Health (FARAH) Center, Department of Infections and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium;
- Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Humana (GISAH), Carrera de Ingeniería en Biotecnología, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida y la Agricultura, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas-ESPE, Sangolquí P.O. Box 171-5-231, Ecuador; (C.C.-I.); (V.M.-N.); (M.Y.-D.); (S.M.-S.)
| | - Cristina Cholota-Iza
- Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Humana (GISAH), Carrera de Ingeniería en Biotecnología, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida y la Agricultura, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas-ESPE, Sangolquí P.O. Box 171-5-231, Ecuador; (C.C.-I.); (V.M.-N.); (M.Y.-D.); (S.M.-S.)
| | - Viviana Medina-Naranjo
- Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Humana (GISAH), Carrera de Ingeniería en Biotecnología, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida y la Agricultura, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas-ESPE, Sangolquí P.O. Box 171-5-231, Ecuador; (C.C.-I.); (V.M.-N.); (M.Y.-D.); (S.M.-S.)
| | - Michelle Yugcha-Díaz
- Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Humana (GISAH), Carrera de Ingeniería en Biotecnología, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida y la Agricultura, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas-ESPE, Sangolquí P.O. Box 171-5-231, Ecuador; (C.C.-I.); (V.M.-N.); (M.Y.-D.); (S.M.-S.)
| | - Jorge Ron-Román
- Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Humana (GISAH), Carrera de Ingeniería Agropecuaria, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida y la Agricultura, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas-ESPE, Sangolquí P.O. Box 171-5-231, Ecuador;
| | - Sarah Martin-Solano
- Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Humana (GISAH), Carrera de Ingeniería en Biotecnología, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida y la Agricultura, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas-ESPE, Sangolquí P.O. Box 171-5-231, Ecuador; (C.C.-I.); (V.M.-N.); (M.Y.-D.); (S.M.-S.)
| | - Gelacio Gómez-Mendoza
- Carrera de Ingeniería Agropecuaria, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida y la Agricultura Extensión Santo Domingo, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas-ESPE, Sangolquí P.O. Box 171-5-231, Ecuador;
| | - Claude Saegerman
- Research Unit of Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Applied to Veterinary Sciences (UREAR-ULiège), Fundamental and Applied Research for Animal and Health (FARAH) Center, Department of Infections and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium;
- Correspondence: (C.S.); (A.R.-B.)
| | - Armando Reyna-Bello
- Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Humana (GISAH), Carrera de Ingeniería en Biotecnología, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida y la Agricultura, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas-ESPE, Sangolquí P.O. Box 171-5-231, Ecuador; (C.C.-I.); (V.M.-N.); (M.Y.-D.); (S.M.-S.)
- Correspondence: (C.S.); (A.R.-B.)
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12
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Ibrahim HM, Galon EMS, Tumwebaze MA, Byamukama B, Liu M, Mohammed-Geba K, Sheir SK, Galal-Khallaf A, Latif HMAE, Morsi DS, Bishr NM, Xuan X. Serological Survey of Babesia bigemina and Babesia bovis in Cattle and Water Buffaloes from Menoufia Province, Egypt. Acta Parasitol 2021; 66:1458-65. [PMID: 34043120 DOI: 10.1007/s11686-021-00338-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2020] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Bovine babesiosis causes morbidity in tropical and subtropical countries worldwide. The present study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of Babesia bigemina and B. bovis in cattle and water buffaloes in Menoufia province, where the second-highest population of bovines in Lower Egypt are raised. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 506 blood samples were collected from cattle (N = 262) and water buffaloes (N = 244) in Menoufia province, Egypt. Seroprevalences of B. bigemina and B. bovis in the samples were determined using recombinant Babesia antigen-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). RESULTS In cattle, the seroprevalences of B. bigemina and B. bovis were 41.60 and 38.17% (37.40 and 35.88% for IgM and 9.54 and 6.11% for IgG), respectively, whereas those of water buffaloes were 35.66 and 31.97% (27.87 and 21.72% for IgM and 15.16 and 15.16% for IgG), respectively. Statistically significant changes in the seroprevalences of the two infective agents were recorded on the basis of region and season of sample collection. CONCLUSION In conclusion, babesiosis is frequent and presents a threat of an epidemic among bovines in Menoufia province. In turn, control of bovine babesiosis is required because of its potential to detrimentally affect milk and meat production in Menoufia province.
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Otgonsuren D, Sivakumar T, Amgalanbaatar T, Enkhtaivan B, Narantsatsral S, Davaasuren B, Zoljargal M, Munkhgerel D, Davkharbayar B, Batmagnai E, Tuvshintulga B, Ahedor B, Myagmarsuren P, Battur B, Battsetseg B, Yokoyama N. Molecular survey of bovine Babesia species in Bactrian camels (Camelus bactrianus) in Mongolia. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2021; 13:101871. [PMID: 34814064 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2021.101871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2021] [Revised: 11/10/2021] [Accepted: 11/11/2021] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Bovine babesiosis, which is caused by species of genus Babesia, is a leading cause of considerable economic losses to the cattle industry each year. Bovine Babesia species have frequently been detected in non-cattle hosts, such as water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), from which the parasites can be transmitted by ticks to cattle. Therefore, Babesia infections should be minimized not only in cattle but also in non-cattle carriers. In the present study, we surveyed the Bactrian camels (Camelus bactrianus) in Mongolia for three clinically significant bovine Babesia species, including Babesia bovis, B. bigemina, and Babesia sp. Mymensingh, which had been detected previously in Mongolian cattle. We screened blood DNA samples from 305 Bactrian camels in six Mongolian provinces for these species, using parasite-specific PCR assays. Our findings showed that the Bactrian camels in Mongolia were infected with all three Babesia species surveyed. The overall positive rates of B. bovis, B. bigemina, and Babesia sp. Mymensingh were 32.1%, 21.6%, and 24.3%, respectively, whereas 52.5% of the surveyed animals were infected with at least one parasite species. We also found that the female Bactrian camels and the Mongolian native camel breed had significantly higher Babesia positive rates than the male Bactrian camels and the Hos Zogdort breed. In Mongolia, cattle and Bactrian camels usually share common pasture lands for grazing; furthermore, tick species infesting cattle also infest Bactrian camels. Our findings, together with these observations, suggest that the tick transmission of bovine Babesia species might be possible between cattle and Bactrian camels. Therefore, strategies for the control of bovine babesiosis in Mongolia should include methods to minimize bovine Babesia species infections in Bactrian camels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davaajav Otgonsuren
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan; Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Thillaiampalam Sivakumar
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan
| | - Tovuu Amgalanbaatar
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Batsaikhan Enkhtaivan
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Sandagdorj Narantsatsral
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Batdorj Davaasuren
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Myagmar Zoljargal
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Dalantai Munkhgerel
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Batbold Davkharbayar
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Enkhbaatar Batmagnai
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Bumduuren Tuvshintulga
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan; Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Believe Ahedor
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan; Department of Animal Experimentation, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
| | - Punsantsogvoo Myagmarsuren
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Banzragch Battur
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Graduate School of the Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Badgar Battsetseg
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Naoaki Yokoyama
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan; OIE Reference Laboratory for Bovine Babesiosis and Equine Piroplasmosis, National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan.
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Goodswen SJ, Kennedy PJ, Ellis JT. Predicting Protein Therapeutic Candidates for Bovine Babesiosis Using Secondary Structure Properties and Machine Learning. Front Genet 2021; 12:716132. [PMID: 34367264 PMCID: PMC8343536 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.716132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Bovine babesiosis causes significant annual global economic loss in the beef and dairy cattle industry. It is a disease instigated from infection of red blood cells by haemoprotozoan parasites of the genus Babesia in the phylum Apicomplexa. Principal species are Babesia bovis, Babesia bigemina, and Babesia divergens. There is no subunit vaccine. Potential therapeutic targets against babesiosis include members of the exportome. This study investigates the novel use of protein secondary structure characteristics and machine learning algorithms to predict exportome membership probabilities. The premise of the approach is to detect characteristic differences that can help classify one protein type from another. Structural properties such as a protein’s local conformational classification states, backbone torsion angles ϕ (phi) and ψ (psi), solvent-accessible surface area, contact number, and half-sphere exposure are explored here as potential distinguishing protein characteristics. The presented methods that exploit these structural properties via machine learning are shown to have the capacity to detect exportome from non-exportome Babesia bovis proteins with an 86–92% accuracy (based on 10-fold cross validation and independent testing). These methods are encapsulated in freely available Linux pipelines setup for automated, high-throughput processing. Furthermore, proposed therapeutic candidates for laboratory investigation are provided for B. bovis, B. bigemina, and two other haemoprotozoan species, Babesia canis, and Plasmodium falciparum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen J Goodswen
- School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia
| | - Paul J Kennedy
- School of Computer Science, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology and the Australian Artificial Intelligence Institute, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia
| | - John T Ellis
- School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia
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Shahzad M, Garg R, Yadav S, Devi A, Ram H, Banerjee PS. Comparative evaluation of Babesia bigemina truncated C-terminal rhoptry associated protein-1 and 200 kDa merozoite protein in indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2021; 12:101783. [PMID: 34274575 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2021.101783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2020] [Revised: 06/08/2021] [Accepted: 06/24/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Babesia bigemina is an intra-erythrocytic apicomplexan protozoon which causes an acute as well as chronic disease in cattle and is transmitted by ixodid ticks throughout the world. Due to low sensitivity of microscopy for detection of the parasite, there is a need for developing effective diagnostic tests that can be used to identify carrier animals in endemic areas. In the present study, C-terminal fragment of rhoptry associated protein-1 (RAP-1/CT) and 200 kDa merozoite protein (P200/CT) of B. bigemina were cloned into pET-32a(+) expression vector and expressed in Escherichia coli as thioredoxin-fusion proteins for use in an indirect ELISA. The rRAP-1/CT and rP200/CT showed no cross reactivity with plasma from cattle infected with other common parasites namely Theileria annulata, Trypanosoma evansi, Cryptosporidium parvum and Anaplasma marginale in the standardized ELISA. Examination of 116 blood samples collected from cattle suspected for haemoprotozoan infections revealed that 17 (14.6%), 46 (39.6%), 52 (44.8%) and 53 (45.7%) were positive for B. bigemina by microscopy, nested PCR, rRAP-1/CT based and rP200/CT based indirect ELISA, respectively. The diagnostic sensitivities of rRAP-1/CT and rP200/CT indirect ELISAs were 97.8% and 91.3%, while the diagnostic specificities were 90% and 84.3%, respectively, when nested PCR was taken as a reference test. An almost perfect agreement (Kappa value -0.859) between rRAP-1/CT ELISA and nested PCR results, and a substantial agreement (Kappa value -0.737) between rP200/CT ELISA and nested PCR were noticed. The findings of the present study suggest that rRAP-1/CT is a better diagnostic candidate antigen than rP200/CT for diagnosis of B. bigemina infection and it may be used in an ELISA for surveillance or diagnosis of B. bigemina infection in bovines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Munazah Shahzad
- Division of Parasitology, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Uttar Pradesh 243 122, India
| | - Rajat Garg
- Division of Parasitology, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Uttar Pradesh 243 122, India.
| | - Shobha Yadav
- Division of Parasitology, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Uttar Pradesh 243 122, India
| | - Anjali Devi
- Division of Parasitology, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Uttar Pradesh 243 122, India
| | - Hira Ram
- Division of Parasitology, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Uttar Pradesh 243 122, India
| | - P S Banerjee
- Eastern Regional Station, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Kolkata, West Bengal 700 037, India
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de la Fournière S, Paoletta MS, Guillemi EC, Sarmiento NF, Donati PA, Wilkowsky SE, Farber MD. Development of highly sensitive one step-PCR tests for improved detection of B. bigemina and B. bovis. Vet Parasitol 2021; 296:109493. [PMID: 34130095 DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2021.109493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2021] [Revised: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 06/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Bovine babesiosis caused by Babesia bigemina and B. bovis is an economically relevant tick-borne disease distributed over tropical and subtropical world regions. Animals that recover from the clinical disease can remain persistently infected, and those carriers are epidemiologically relevant since they can act as a source of infection to other animals through the tick bite. According to the manual of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the recommended molecular diagnosis test for both parasites is a nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) based on an amplification of a fragment of the rap-1 gene. Since nPCRs are time consuming, have a higher cost and risk of contamination, we propose a single step PCR for B. bigemina (BbiVESA) and B. bovis (BboVESA) based on the amplification of the multi-copy ves-1α gene. We developed these methods and we achieved a detection limit of 1 × 10-12 % parasitemia for B. bigemina and of 1 × 10-6 % for B. bovis using reference strains, which compared to the reference OIE tests, results in an improvement in sensitivity of six orders for B. bigemina. Finally, we tested 48 field samples from a babesiosis enzootic region where we were able to detect a higher proportion of positive animals with both VESA methods than with the reference rap-1 nPCRs. This difference was statistically significant for each Babesia species. Concordance between both diagnostic schemes based on Cohen's kappa coefficient showed minimal to non-agreement (κ = 0.32) for B. bigemina and non-agreement (κ = 0.16) for B. bovis since BbiVESA and BboVESA PCR tests showed a significantly higher detection capacity. In conclusion, the high sensitivity of the assay, together with the lower demand of time and reagents make the VESA PCR methods developed here a valuable diagnostic tool for the molecular detection and epidemiological survey of both Babesia pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sofía de la Fournière
- Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular (IABIMO) INTA - CONICET, de Los Reseros y Dr. Nicolás Repetto s/n, P.O. Box 25 (B1712WAA), Castelar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Martina Soledad Paoletta
- Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular (IABIMO) INTA - CONICET, de Los Reseros y Dr. Nicolás Repetto s/n, P.O. Box 25 (B1712WAA), Castelar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Eliana Carolina Guillemi
- Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular (IABIMO) INTA - CONICET, de Los Reseros y Dr. Nicolás Repetto s/n, P.O. Box 25 (B1712WAA), Castelar, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| | - Néstor Fabián Sarmiento
- Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Mercedes, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Juan Pujol al Este s/n, 3470, Mercedes, Corrientes, Argentina
| | - Pablo Alejandro Donati
- Departamento de Anestesiología y manejo del dolor, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Av. Chorroarin 280, (C1427CWO), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Silvina Elizabeth Wilkowsky
- Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular (IABIMO) INTA - CONICET, de Los Reseros y Dr. Nicolás Repetto s/n, P.O. Box 25 (B1712WAA), Castelar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Marisa Diana Farber
- Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular (IABIMO) INTA - CONICET, de Los Reseros y Dr. Nicolás Repetto s/n, P.O. Box 25 (B1712WAA), Castelar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Goodswen SJ, Kennedy PJ, Ellis JT. Applying Machine Learning to Predict the Exportome of Bovine and Canine Babesia Species That Cause Babesiosis. Pathogens 2021; 10:660. [PMID: 34071992 PMCID: PMC8226867 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens10060660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2021] [Revised: 05/24/2021] [Accepted: 05/25/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Babesia infection of red blood cells can cause a severe disease called babesiosis in susceptible hosts. Bovine babesiosis causes global economic loss to the beef and dairy cattle industries, and canine babesiosis is considered a clinically significant disease. Potential therapeutic targets against bovine and canine babesiosis include members of the exportome, i.e., those proteins exported from the parasite into the host red blood cell. We developed three machine learning-derived methods (two novel and one adapted) to predict for every known Babesia bovis, Babesia bigemina, and Babesia canis protein the probability of being an exportome member. Two well-studied apicomplexan-related species, Plasmodium falciparum and Toxoplasma gondii, with extensive experimental evidence on their exportome or excreted/secreted proteins were used as important benchmarks for the three methods. Based on 10-fold cross validation and multiple train-validation-test splits of training data, we expect that over 90% of the predicted probabilities accurately provide a secretory or non-secretory indicator. Only laboratory testing can verify that predicted high exportome membership probabilities are creditable exportome indicators. However, the presented methods at least provide those proteins most worthy of laboratory validation and will ultimately save time and money.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen J. Goodswen
- School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, 15 Broadway, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia;
| | - Paul J. Kennedy
- School of Computer Science, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Australian Artificial Intelligence Institute, University of Technology Sydney, 15 Broadway, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia;
| | - John T. Ellis
- School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, 15 Broadway, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia;
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Sachman-Ruiz B, Lozano L, Lira JJ, Martínez G, Rojas C, Álvarez JA, Figueroa JV. A Comparative Genomic Study of Attenuated and Virulent Strains of Babesia bigemina. Pathogens 2021; 10:318. [PMID: 33800466 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens10030318] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Revised: 02/23/2021] [Accepted: 03/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Cattle babesiosis is a socio-economically important tick-borne disease caused by Apicomplexa protozoa of the genus Babesia that are obligate intraerythrocytic parasites. The pathogenicity of Babesia parasites for cattle is determined by the interaction with the host immune system and the presence of the parasite’s virulence genes. A Babesia bigemina strain that has been maintained under a microaerophilic stationary phase in in vitro culture conditions for several years in the laboratory lost virulence for the bovine host and the capacity for being transmitted by the tick vector. In this study, we compared the virulome of the in vitro culture attenuated Babesia bigemina strain (S) and the virulent tick transmitted parental Mexican B. bigemina strain (M). Preliminary results obtained by using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) showed that out of 27 virulence genes described and analyzed in the B. bigemina virulent tick transmitted strain, only five were fully identified in the attenuated laboratory strain. In all cases, the identity and coverture of the identified genes of the wildtype strain were higher than those of the laboratory strain. This finding is putatively associated with the continuous partial loss of virulence genes in the laboratory strain after several passages of the parasite population under optimal in vitro growth conditions. The loss of virulence factors might be reflected in the absence of symptoms of the disease in cattle inoculated with the attenuated strain despite the presence of infection in the bovine host cells.
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Ola-Fadunsin SD, Sharma RSK, Abdullah DA, Gimba FI, Abdullah FFJ, Sani RA. The molecular prevalence, distribution and risk factors associated with Babesia bigemina infection in Peninsular Malaysia. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2021; 12:101653. [PMID: 33465661 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2021.101653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2019] [Revised: 12/29/2020] [Accepted: 01/05/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Babesia bigemina is a tick-borne protozoan that affects cattle in almost all regions of the world. Despite its importance, there is no report of its prevalence in cattle using molecular detection methods in Peninsular Malaysia. This study describes the prevalence, distribution, and risk factors associated with B. bigemina infection using molecular diagnostic methods. Also, the species of ticks infesting cattle and the attitude of cattle farmers towards tick control in Peninsular Malaysia were studied. Blood samples were collected from 1045 cattle from 43 herds throughout the country, and were subjected to molecular studies to detect B. bigemina. Tick samples for entomological studies were also collected and identified. Epidemiological information of each cattle and farm were obtained using a well-structured questionnaire containing open-ended and closed-ended questions. Data were statistically analyzed using Univariate and Multivariate models. The 211-base pair of AMA-1 gene of B. bigemina was amplified and confirmed in 30.5 % (319/1045; 95 % CI = 27.8-33.4) of the sampled population, with the haemoprotozoan detected in all the sampled herds. Breed, age, physiological status, management type, rate of de-ticking, and closeness to human settlement were the risk factors significantly (p < 0.05) associated with the prevalence of B. bigemina in cattle. Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus and Haemaphysalis bispinosa were the species of ticks collected from cattle, with the former been more prevalent. A large number of cattle farmers (12/43; 28 %) do not control ticks in their herds. The findings of this study will create baseline data on the epidemiology of the haemoprotozoan and control patterns of its tick vectors that will guide the government in enacting policies that will improve food security and the economy of the nation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shola David Ola-Fadunsin
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; Department of Veterinary Parasitology and Entomology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ilorin, PMB, 1515 Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria.
| | | | - Donea Abdurazak Abdullah
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; Department of Animal Production, Northern Technical University Mosul, Iraq
| | - Fufa Ido Gimba
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; Department of Veterinary Parasitology and Entomology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Maiduguri, PMB 1069, Maiduguri, Bornu State, Nigeria
| | | | - Rehana Abdullah Sani
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
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Silva MG, Bastos RG, Stone Doggett J, Riscoe MK, Pou S, Winter R, Dodean RA, Nilsen A, Suarez CE. Endochin-like quinolone-300 and ELQ-316 inhibit Babesia bovis, B. bigemina, B. caballi and Theileria equi. Parasit Vectors 2020; 13:606. [PMID: 33272316 PMCID: PMC7712603 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-020-04487-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2020] [Accepted: 11/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The most common apicomplexan parasites causing bovine babesiosis are Babesia bovis and B. bigemina, while B. caballi and Theileria equi are responsible for equine piroplasmosis. Treatment and control of these diseases are usually achieved using potentially toxic chemotherapeutics, such as imidocarb diproprionate, but drug-resistant parasites are emerging, and alternative effective and safer drugs are needed. The endochin-like quinolones (ELQ)-300 and ELQ-316 have been proven to be safe and efficacious against related apicomplexans, such as Plasmodium spp., with ELQ-316 also being effective against Babesia microti, without showing toxicity in mammals. Methods The inhibitory effects of ELQ-300 and ELQ-316 were assessed on the growth of cultured B. bovis, B. bigemina, B. caballi and T. equi. The percentage of parasitized erythrocytes was measured by flow cytometry, and the effect of the ELQ compounds on the viability of horse and bovine peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was assessed by monitoring cell metabolic activity using a colorimetric assay. Results We calculated the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) at 72 h, which ranged from 0.04 to 0.37 nM for ELQ-300, and from 0.002 to 0.1 nM for ELQ-316 among all cultured parasites tested at 72 h. None of the parasites tested were able to replicate in cultures in the presence of ELQ-300 and ELQ-316 at the maximal inhibitory concentration (IC100), which ranged from 1.3 to 5.7 nM for ELQ-300 and from 1.0 to 6.0 nM for ELQ-316 at 72 h. Neither ELQ-300 nor ELQ-316 altered the viability of equine and bovine PBMC at their IC100 in in vitro testing. Conclusions The compounds ELQ-300 and ELQ-316 showed significant inhibitory activity on the main parasites responsible for bovine babesiosis and equine piroplasmosis at doses that are tolerable to host cells. These ELQ drugs may be viable candidates for developing alternative protocols for the treatment of bovine babesiosis and equine piroplasmosis. ![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta G Silva
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA.
| | - Reginaldo G Bastos
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - J Stone Doggett
- Oregon Health and Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Blvd., Portland, Oregon, 97239, USA
| | - Michael K Riscoe
- Oregon Health and Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Blvd., Portland, Oregon, 97239, USA
| | - Sovitj Pou
- VA Portland Health Care System, 3710 SW US Veterans Hospital Road, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
| | - Rolf Winter
- VA Portland Health Care System, 3710 SW US Veterans Hospital Road, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
| | - Rozalia A Dodean
- VA Portland Health Care System, 3710 SW US Veterans Hospital Road, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
| | - Aaron Nilsen
- Oregon Health and Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Blvd., Portland, Oregon, 97239, USA.,VA Portland Health Care System, 3710 SW US Veterans Hospital Road, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
| | - Carlos E Suarez
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA. .,Animal Disease Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, WSU, Pullman, WA, USA.
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Montenegro VN, Paoletta MS, Jaramillo Ortiz JM, Suarez CE, Wilkowsky SE. Identification and characterization of a Babesia bigemina thrombospondin-related superfamily member, TRAP-1: a novel antigen containing neutralizing epitopes involved in merozoite invasion. Parasit Vectors 2020; 13:602. [PMID: 33261638 PMCID: PMC7705850 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-020-04469-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2020] [Accepted: 11/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Thrombospondin-related anonymous protein (TRAP) has been described as a potential vaccine candidate for several diseases caused by apicomplexan parasites. However, this protein and members of this family have not yet been characterized in Babesia bigemina, one of the most prevalent species causing bovine babesiosis. Methods The 3186-bp Babesia bigemina TRAP-1 (BbiTRAP-1) gene was identified by a bioinformatics search using the B. bovis TRAP-1 sequence. Members of the TRAP and TRAP-related protein families (TRP) were identified in Babesia and Theileria through a search of the TSP-1 adhesive domain, which is the hallmark motif in both proteins. Structural modeling and phylogenetic analysis were performed with the identified TRAP proteins. A truncated recombinant BbiTRAP-1 that migrates at approximately 107 kDa and specific antisera were produced and used in Western blot analysis and indirect fluorescent antibody tests (IFAT). B-cell epitopes with neutralizing activity in BbiTRAP-1 were defined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and invasion assays. Results Three members of the TRAP family of proteins were identified in B. bigemina (BbiTRAP-1 to -3). All are type 1 transmembrane proteins containing the von Willebrand factor A (vWFA), thrombospondin type 1 (TSP-1), and cytoplasmic C-terminus domains, as well as transmembrane regions. The BbiTRAP-1 predicted structure also contains a metal ion-dependent adhesion site for interaction with the host cell. The TRP family in Babesia and Theileria species contains the canonical TSP-1 domain but lacks the vWFA domain and together with TRAP define a novel gene superfamily. A variable number of tandem repeat units are present in BbiTRAP-1 and could be used for strain genotyping. Western blot and IFAT analysis confirmed the expression of BbiTRAP-1 by blood-stage parasites. Partial recognition by a panel of sera from B. bigemina-infected cattle in ELISAs using truncated BbiTRAP-1 suggests that this protein is not an immunodominant antigen. Additionally, bovine anti-recombinant BbiTRAP-1 antibodies were found to be capable of neutralizing merozoite invasion in vitro. Conclusions We have identified the TRAP and TRP gene families in several Babesia and Theileria species and characterized BbiTRAP-1 as a novel antigen of B. bigemina. The functional relevance and presence of neutralization-sensitive B-cell epitopes suggest that BbiTRAP-1 could be included in tests for future vaccine candidates against B. bigemina.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Valeria Noely Montenegro
- Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular (IABIMO) (INTA-CONICET), De Los Reseros y Dr. Nicolás Repetto s/N, P.O. Box 25, B1712WAA, Castelar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Martina Soledad Paoletta
- Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular (IABIMO) (INTA-CONICET), De Los Reseros y Dr. Nicolás Repetto s/N, P.O. Box 25, B1712WAA, Castelar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - José M Jaramillo Ortiz
- Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular (IABIMO) (INTA-CONICET), De Los Reseros y Dr. Nicolás Repetto s/N, P.O. Box 25, B1712WAA, Castelar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Carlos E Suarez
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA.,Animal Disease Research Unit, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), Washington State University, 3003 ADBF, P.O. Box 646630, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA
| | - Silvina Elizabeth Wilkowsky
- Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular (IABIMO) (INTA-CONICET), De Los Reseros y Dr. Nicolás Repetto s/N, P.O. Box 25, B1712WAA, Castelar, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Rauf U, Suleman M, Abid A, Jamil H, Menghwar H, Durrani AZ, Rashid MI, Akbar H. Humoral and Cell-Mediated Immune Response Validation in Calves after a Live Attenuated Vaccine of Babesia bigemina. Pathogens 2020; 9:E936. [PMID: 33187270 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens9110936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2020] [Revised: 10/31/2020] [Accepted: 11/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The current vaccines to control bovine Babesia bigemina (B. bigemina) infection are not fully protective and vaccination failures incur heavy losses to the cattle industry around the world. Using modified micro-aerophilous stationary phase, we developed a culture-derived attenuated live vaccine against B. bigemina and tested a single subcutaneous inoculation of 2 × 108 infected erythrocytes in calves. The protection was measured after a lethal intravenous challenge with 5 × 108 virulent calf-derived B. bigemina. Our results demonstrated that a single shot of attenuated vaccine was capable of inducing robust humoral and cell-mediated immune responses in calves. We found a significant increase in the IgG antibody titers post-challenge and a strong proliferation of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells contributing towards the protection. Our vaccine provided complete protection and parasitic clearance, which was followed for more than 100 days post-challenge. This immunity against babesiosis was directly linked to strong humoral responses; however, the parasitic clearance was attributed to significant T cells effector responses in vaccinated calves as compared to the infected control calves. We anticipate that these results will be helpful in the development of more efficient culture-derived vaccines against Babesia infections, thus reducing significant global economic losses to farmers and the cattle industry.
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El-Dakhly KM, Arafa WM, Soliman S, Abdel-Fatah OR, Wahba AA, Esteve-Gasent MD, Holman PJ. Molecular Detection, Phylogenetic Analysis, and Genetic Diversity of Theileria annulata, Babesia bigemina, and Anaplasma marginale in Cattle in Three Districts of Egypt. Acta Parasitol 2020; 65:620-7. [PMID: 32207056 DOI: 10.2478/s11686-020-00189-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2019] [Accepted: 02/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Under the poor hygienic conditions, tick-borne pathogens cause severe economic losses to the cattle industry. PURPOSE The current study investigated the presence of Theileria annulata, Babesia bigemina, and Anaplasma marginale, the most relevant tick-borne pathogens in cattle, in 3 provinces of Egypt utilizing species-specific PCR assays. METHODS PCR was conducted, on bovine blood specimens, using primers targeting the T. annulata merozoite-piroplasm surface antigen (Tams1, 768 bp), A. marginale major surface protein-1b gene (msp1b, 265 bp), and B. bigemina small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSrRNA, 543 bp). RESULTS PCR findings revealed overall prevalences of T. annulata, B. bigemina, and A. marginale as 22.0% (33/150), 19.33% (29/150), and 10.6% (16/150), respectively. The co-infection with two or three pathogens was detected in 20.0% (30/150) of examined specimens. Sequence analyses indicated that T. annulata and A. marginale varied from those of corresponding GenBank sequences revealing percent identities ranging from 90.68 to 97.75% and from 94.98 to 98.63%, respectively. On the other hand, the obtained B. bigemina sequences showed a high similarity with those previously reported in GenBank with a percent identity ranging from 98.85 to 100%. CONCLUSION T. annulata was the most prevalent tick-borne pathogen in examined bovine specimens. The genetic diversity of markers used for identification of T. annulata and A. marginale should be highly considered.
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Alvarez JA, Rojas C, Figueroa JV. An Overview of Current Knowledge on in vitro Babesia Cultivation for Production of Live Attenuated Vaccines for Bovine Babesiosis in Mexico. Front Vet Sci 2020; 7:364. [PMID: 32671114 PMCID: PMC7332553 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2020.00364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2019] [Accepted: 05/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The instrumentation of the in vitro culture system has allowed researchers to learn more about the metabolic and growth behavior of Babesia spp. The various applications for in vitro cultivation of Babesia include obtaining attenuated strains for vaccination or pre-munition, the selection of pure lines with different degrees of virulence, studies on biological cloning, ultrastructure, antigen production for diagnostics, drug sensitivity assessments, and different aspects of parasite biology. Although there are different types of vaccines that have been tested against bovine babesiosis, so far, the only procedure that has offered favorable results in terms of protection and safety has been the use of live attenuated vaccines. In countries, such as Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Israel, this type of vaccine has been produced and used. The alternative to live vaccines other than splenectomized calf-derived biological material, has been the in vitro cultivation of Babesia bovis and B. bigemina. The development of in vitro culture of Babesia spp. strains in a defined medium has been the basis for the initiation of a source of parasites and exoantigens for a variety of studies on the biochemistry and immunology of babesiosis. The use of live immunogens from attenuated strains derived from in vitro culture is highlighted, which has been proposed as an alternative to control bovine babesiosis. In several studies performed in Mexico, this type of immunogen applied to susceptible cattle has shown the induction of protection against the experimental heterologous strain challenge with both, Babesia-infected blood and animal exposure to confrontations on tick vector-infested farms. The combination of transfection technologies and the in vitro culture system as integrated methodologies would eventually give rise to the generation of genetically modified live vaccines. However, a greater challenge faced now by researchers is the large-scale cultivation of Babesia parasites for mass production and vaccine distribution.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Julio V. Figueroa
- Laboratory of Bovine Babesiosis, National Institute for Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock Research (INIFAP), National Disciplinary Research Center on Animal Health and Safety (CENID-SAI), Jiutepec, Mexico
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Ziam H, Kernif T, Saidani K, Kelanemer R, Hammaz Z, Geysen D. Bovine piroplasmosis-anaplasmosis and clinical signs of tropical theileriosis in the plains of Djurdjura (north Algeria). Vet Med Sci 2020; 6:720-729. [PMID: 32558239 PMCID: PMC7738714 DOI: 10.1002/vms3.305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2019] [Revised: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 05/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The study was conducted during tick activity season over a period of 5 years in the Djurdjura Plains, Algeria. A total of 299 cattle (Holstein, Montbeliard, Fleckvieh and crossbred animals) with clinical signs were included in this study. A total of 171 animals were found positive for at least one pathogen by Giemsa-stained blood smears examination Theileria annulata (136/299, 45.5%), Babesia bovis (14/299, 4.7%), B. bigemina (3/299, 1.0%) and Anaplasma marginale (12/299, 4.0%) were identified. Six animals were co-infected by T. annulata and A. marginale. Although no ticks were collected from diseased animals, clinical signs in cattle were hyperthermia (120/136, 88.3%), gluttony followed by anorexia (113/136, 83.1%), lymph node enlargement (99/136, 72.8%), anaemia (82/136, 60.3%), icterus (58/136, 42.6%) and haemoglobinuria (36/136, 26.5%). Gluttony followed by anorexia was considered highly suggestive of an incubation of tropical theileriosis as shown by a higher receptivity index (IR = 0.89-1). This clinical sign is evident in young Montbeliard and young Holstein males with anaemia (IR = 1) and icterus (IR = 0.78-0.81) which is earlier than haemoglobinuria (IR = 0.51-0.54). The incidence of T. annulata was maximum in July (n = 57), as well as B. bovis (n = 6) and A. marginale (n = 13). These results highlight the preponderance of tropical theileriosis in north-central Algeria, where gluttony followed by anorexia is probably a prodromal symptom during the incubation period of the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hocine Ziam
- Institue of veterinary Sciences, Saad Dahlab University, Blida 1, Ouled Yaich, 9015, Blida, Algeria.,Laboratory of Biotechnology, Environment and Health, Saad Dahlab University, Blida, 9015, Algeria.,Institute of Tropical Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Nationalestraat 155, Antwerp, 2000, Belgium
| | - Tahar Kernif
- Laboratory of Parasitic Eco-epidemiology and Population Genetics, Pasteur Institute of Algeria, Algiers, Dely-Brahim, Algeria
| | - Khelaf Saidani
- Institue of veterinary Sciences, Saad Dahlab University, Blida 1, Ouled Yaich, 9015, Blida, Algeria
| | - Rabah Kelanemer
- Institue of veterinary Sciences, Saad Dahlab University, Blida 1, Ouled Yaich, 9015, Blida, Algeria
| | - Zoheir Hammaz
- High School of Food Sciences and Food Industry, Oued Smar, Algiers, 16270, Algeria
| | - Dirk Geysen
- Institute of Tropical Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Nationalestraat 155, Antwerp, 2000, Belgium
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Álvarez Martínez JA, Figueroa Millán JV, Ueti MW, Rojas-Martínez C. Innovative Alternatives for Continuous In Vitro Culture of Babesia bigemina in Medium Free of Components of Animal Origin. Pathogens 2020; 9:E343. [PMID: 32370024 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens9050343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2020] [Revised: 04/29/2020] [Accepted: 04/29/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
In this study, we report Babesia bigemina proliferation in culture medium free of components of animal origin supplemented with a lipid mixture. Babesia bigemina continuously proliferated in VP-SFM with a higher percent parasitized erythrocyte as compare to using other animal component-free culture media. Compared with Advanced DMEM/F12 (ADMEM/F12), VP-SFM had a similar percent parasitized erythrocyte (PPE). Supplementation of VP-SF with a lipid acid mixture improved B. bigemina proliferation in vitro culture, with a maximum PPE of 11.3%. Growth of B. bigemina in a perfusion bioreactor using VP-SFM medium supplemented with lipid mixture resulted in a PPE above 28%. In conclusion, we demonstrated that B. bigemina proliferated in an animal component-free medium supplemented with the fatty acid mixture. This innovation to B. bigeminain vitro culture method presented herein is an important source of biological material for live vaccine production and understanding the mechanisms and molecules involved in parasite attachment and invasion of bovine erythrocytes.
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Santamaria RM, Lira JJ, Vargas P, Alvarez JA, Rojas C, Figueroa JV. Validation of an indirect ELISA using recombinant proteins as antigen to identify animals exposed to Babesia bigemina. Transbound Emerg Dis 2020; 67 Suppl 2:201-207. [PMID: 32216052 DOI: 10.1111/tbed.13522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The objective of this study was to instrument a serological assay for the epidemiological diagnosis of bovine babesiosis in Mexico, using the Babesia bigemina recombinant protein RAP-1 (rRAP-1α) as antigen. rRAP-1α, r12d3 and rGP45 were the three recombinant antigens initially tested. Based on the highest titres obtained in the indirect ELISA (iELISA) with the positive control serum, using similar antigen concentrations, rRAP-1α was selected for further use. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity rates estimated for the iELISA with rRAP-1α as antigen were 89.9% and 86.5%, respectively, while for the Indirect Fluorescent Antibody Test (IFAT), the gold standard assay, the sensitivity was 86.66% and the specificity was 95%. The ĸ agreement value determined was 0.52, indicating a moderate agreement between the iELISA and IFAT assays. The instrumented iELISA with rRAP-1α as antigen shows an excellent specificity rate and an acceptable sensitivity that allows for the detection of antibodies to B. bigemina in cattle naturally exposed to the vector tick Rhipicephalus microplus. By using the iELISA-rRAP-1α, along with an iELISA with recombinant Merozoite Surface Antigen (rMSA-1) for antibody determination against Babesia bovis in the serum samples collected from cattle at 'La Posta' experimental station in Mexico, a seroprevalence of 20.3% was estimated for B. bigemina and 19.4% for B. bovis, while 36.89% of samples were positive for both Babesia species. The iELISA test promises to be a safe and low-cost type of diagnosis available to cattle producers in Mexico and would facilitate the definition of herd immunity status to implement measures of control adapted for the prevention of bovine babesiosis outbreaks.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jose J Lira
- CENID- Salud Animal e Inocuidad, INIFAP, Jiutepec, Mexico
| | | | | | - Carmen Rojas
- CENID- Salud Animal e Inocuidad, INIFAP, Jiutepec, Mexico
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Stoltsz H, Byaruhanga C, Troskie M, Makgabo M, Oosthuizen MC, Collins NE, Neves L. Improved detection of Babesia bigemina from various geographical areas in Africa using quantitative PCR and reverse line blot hybridisation. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2020; 11:101415. [PMID: 32209349 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2019] [Revised: 02/20/2020] [Accepted: 03/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Babesia bigemina is one of the aetiological agents of bovine babesiosis, which causes economic losses through mortality, loss of production and control costs. Effective means of detecting and quantifying B. bigemina in cattle populations is therefore important to inform control approaches. In order to examine the parasite genetic diversity in African countries, B. bigemina 18S rRNA genes from cattle from South Africa, Uganda and Angola were sequenced. The 25 distinct B. bigemina 18S rRNA gene sequences obtained in this study showed 99 to 100% identity with previously published sequences of strains from African and other continents. The sequences of the previously published B. bigemina 18S rRNA gene-specific quantitative PCR (qPCR) primers and probe, developed based on American and Asian strains, were conserved in the African B. bigemina sequences. The qPCR assay was evaluated using 10-fold and 2-fold serial dilutions of B. bigemina-infected erythrocytes to determine the efficiency and analytical sensitivity. The qPCR assay had an efficiency of 98.14 ± 1.71%, and the limit of detection was approximately 1.5 infected red blood cells (iRBCs) per microlitre (μl) of blood. The detection rate of B. bigemina from duplicates of field-collected blood samples from cattle from South Africa, Mozambique and Angola was 37% (30/81), 12% (6/49) and 50% (38/76), respectively. Reverse line blot hybridisation (RLB) results obtained from the same samples in previous studies, using a previously published B. bigemina-specific probe, detected the parasite DNA in only 1.5% (3/206) of the samples. A new B. bigemina-specific RLB oligonucleotide probe was designed in the hypervariable V4 region of the 18S rRNA gene. Screening of field blood samples from cattle showed that the new probe was specific, and its frequency of detection of B. bigemina was three times higher than the previously published probe. The qPCR assay and the newly developed B. bigemina-specific RLB probe provide good tools for epidemiological studies, which are essential in the control of bovine babesiosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hein Stoltsz
- Vectors and Vector-Borne Diseases Research Programme, Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa
| | - Charles Byaruhanga
- Vectors and Vector-Borne Diseases Research Programme, Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa; National Agricultural Research Organisation, P.O. Box 259, Entebbe, Uganda.
| | - Milana Troskie
- Vectors and Vector-Borne Diseases Research Programme, Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa
| | - Marcus Makgabo
- Vectors and Vector-Borne Diseases Research Programme, Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa
| | - Marinda C Oosthuizen
- Vectors and Vector-Borne Diseases Research Programme, Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa
| | - Nicola E Collins
- Vectors and Vector-Borne Diseases Research Programme, Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa
| | - Luis Neves
- Vectors and Vector-Borne Diseases Research Programme, Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa; Biotechnology Center, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique
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Otgonsuren D, Sivakumar T, Amgalanbaatar T, Enkhtaivan B, Narantsatsral S, Tuvshintulga B, Zoljargal M, Munkhgerel D, Davkharbayar B, Baatarjargal P, Davaasuren B, Myagmarsuren P, Battsetseg B, Battur B, Yokoyama N. Molecular epidemiological survey of Babesia bovis, Babesia bigemina, and Babesia sp. Mymensingh infections in Mongolian cattle. Parasitol Int 2020; 77:102107. [PMID: 32205192 DOI: 10.1016/j.parint.2020.102107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2019] [Revised: 03/02/2020] [Accepted: 03/19/2020] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Bovine babesiosis caused by Babesia species is an economically significant disease of cattle. Severe clinical babesiosis in cattle is caused by Babesia bovis, B. bigemina, and the recently discovered Babesia sp. Mymensingh. Mongolia is an agricultural country with a large cattle inventory. Although previous studies have detected active infections of B. bovis and B. bigemina in Mongolian cattle, only a few provinces were surveyed. Additionally, the endemicity of Babesia sp. Mymensingh in Mongolia remains unknown. We screened blood DNA samples from 725 cattle reared in 16 of the 21 Mongolian provinces using B. bovis-, B. bigemina-, and Babesia. sp. Mymensingh-specific PCR assays. The overall positive rates of B. bovis, B. bigemina, and Babesia sp. Mymensingh were 27.9% (n = 202), 23.6% (n = 171), and 5.4% (n = 39), respectively. B. bovis and B. bigemina were detected in cattle in all surveyed provinces; whereas Babesia sp. Mymensingh was detected in 11 of the 16 surveyed provinces. On a per province basis, the B. bovis- B. bigemina-, and Babesia sp. Mymensingh-positive rates were 5.9-52.0%, 9.1-76.3%, and 0-35.7%, respectively. In conclusion, this is the first report of Babesia sp. Mymensingh in Mongolia. In addition, we found that species of Babesia that are capable of causing bovine clinical babesiosis, including B. bovis, B. bigemina, and Babesia sp. Mymensingh, are widespread throughout the country.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davaajav Otgonsuren
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan; Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Thillaiampalam Sivakumar
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan
| | - Tovuu Amgalanbaatar
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Batsaikhan Enkhtaivan
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Sandagdorj Narantsatsral
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Bumduuren Tuvshintulga
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan; Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Myagmar Zoljargal
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Dalantai Munkhgerel
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Batbold Davkharbayar
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Purevdorj Baatarjargal
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Batdorj Davaasuren
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Punsantsogvoo Myagmarsuren
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Badgar Battsetseg
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Banzragch Battur
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Naoaki Yokoyama
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan; OIE Reference Laboratory for Bovine Babesiosis and Equine Piroplasmosis, National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan.
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Ganzinelli S, Benitez D, Gantuya S, Guswanto A, Florin-Christensen M, Schnittger L, Igarashi I. Highly sensitive nested PCR and rapid immunochromatographic detection of Babesia bovis and Babesia bigemina infection in a cattle herd with acute clinical and fatal cases in Argentina. Transbound Emerg Dis 2019; 67 Suppl 2:159-164. [PMID: 31880063 DOI: 10.1111/tbed.13435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2018] [Revised: 10/01/2019] [Accepted: 11/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Bovine babesiosis is a tick-transmitted haemoparasitic disease caused by Babesia bovis and B. bigemina affecting cattle of tropical and subtropical regions around the world. Pathogens are transmitted by the tick vector Rhipicephalus microplus displaying a widespread distribution in northeastern Argentina. The disease is characterized by significant animal morbidity and mortality resulting in considerable economic loss. In this study, B. bovis and B. bigemina infection was investigated in a cattle herd of 150 adult bovines of pure Braford breed raised in a tick-hyperendemic field using molecular and serum antibody tests. A highly sensitive nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) assay targeting a species-specific region of the apocytochrome b gene resulted in direct B. bovis and B. bigemina detection in 27.3% and 54.7% of bovines, respectively. A recently developed immunochromatographic strip test (ICT) based on recombinant forms of spherical body protein 4 and the C-terminal region of rhoptry-associated protein 1 showed that 71.3% and 89.3% of bovines were seropositive for B. bovis and B. bigemina, respectively. The mixed infection rate as observed by direct (19.3%) and indirect detection (65.3%) coincided with those expected, respectively. Importantly, four months after sampling, nine bovines of the studied herd showed clinical signs of bovine babesiosis of which six animals eventually died. Microscopic detection of infected erythrocytes in Giemsa-stained blood smears confirmed B. bovis infection. Our study demonstrates that although animals showed a relatively high and very high rate of immunity against infection with B. bovis (71.3%) and B. bigemina (89.3%) parasites, respectively, clinical cases and fatalities due to the infection with B. bovis were observed. It is proposed that the most adequate control measure in the studied epidemiological situation is to vaccinate animals to prevent losses and/or an outbreak of bovine babesiosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Ganzinelli
- Instituto de Patobiología Veterinaria, CICVyA, INTA-Castelar, Argentina and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Daniel Benitez
- Estación Experimental Agropecuaria (EEA), INTA-Mercedes, Mercedes, Argentina
| | - Sambuu Gantuya
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Japan
| | - Azirwan Guswanto
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Japan
| | - Monica Florin-Christensen
- Instituto de Patobiología Veterinaria, CICVyA, INTA-Castelar, Argentina and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Leonhard Schnittger
- Instituto de Patobiología Veterinaria, CICVyA, INTA-Castelar, Argentina and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Ikuo Igarashi
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Japan
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Esmaeilnejad B, Tavassoli M, Samiei A, Abbasi A, Shafipour A, Esmaeilnejad N. Histopathological changes and oxidative damage in hepatic tissue of rats experimentally infected with Babesia bigemina. Pol J Vet Sci 2019; 21:517-524. [PMID: 30468338 DOI: 10.24425/124285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
The present study was aimed to investigate oxidative stress, DNA damage, and histopatholog- ical alterations in hepatic tissues of splenectomized Wistar rats experimentally infected with Ba- besia bigemina. Rats were challenged with 5x106 infected erythrocytes. Babesia infection was con- firmed both with Giemsa's staining blood smears and nested-PCR amplified region of apical membrane antigen-1 (AMA-1) gene. Parasitemia reached approximately 10 % at day 5 post-in- fection. Livers of infected rats were enlarged and darker in color, became extremely brittle with marked congestion. Microscopic evaluation showed cytoplasmic clearing of hepatocytes and se- vere hydropic changes with significantly dilated sinusoids containing macrophages and also intra- sinosoidal parasitized erythrocytes. Severe infiltration of lymphoplasma cells was also present throughout the liver parenchyma. Furthermore, Kupffer cells were enlarged and, occasionally, containing Babesia-parasitized erythrocytes. The activity of Glutathione (GSH) and catalase (CAT), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were also significantly decreased (p ⟨ 0.05) after infection of rats with B. bigemina. B. bigemina infection also induced a significant increase (p ⟨ 0.05) in hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide-derived products (NOx) concentra- tions as well as amount of endogenous hepatocytes DNA damage. Hepatic damage was also re- flected through the measurement of lactic acid dehydrogenase (LDH) and protein carbonyl con- tent (PCO) in liver cells. These two indices of liver injury were also significantly elevated (p ⟨ 0.5) during B. bigemina infection. Evaluation of correlation between assayed variables in infected rats revealed that MDA levels were positively correlated with PCO, NOx, LDH and DNA damage in the infected group and negatively correlated with GSH, CAT and TAC. There was also an inverse relationship between the antioxidant enzymes activities of GSH, CAT and TAC with PCO, NOx and DNA damage in infected rats. However, NOx showed positive correlation with PCO and DNA damage in infected rats. On the basis of the above results it can be concluded that the Ba- besia infection increases oxidative stress markers, protein carbonyl content and DNA damage and decreases antioxidant enzymes activities in the liver. These results suggest that B. bigemina infec- tion could alter the liver histopathology and causes DNA damage following oxidative stress in hepatic tissue. Further studies are needed to precisely define how hepatic tissue damage takes place in B. bigemina infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Esmaeilnejad
- Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran
| | - M Tavassoli
- Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran
| | - A Samiei
- Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran
| | - A Abbasi
- Department of Pathology, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran
| | - A Shafipour
- Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran
| | - N Esmaeilnejad
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran
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Mosqueda J, Hidalgo-Ruiz M, Calvo-Olvera DA, Hernandez-Silva DJ, Ueti MW, Mercado-Uriostegui MA, Rodriguez A, Ramos-Aragon JA, Hernandez-Ortiz R, Kawazu SI, Igarashi I. RON2, a novel gene in Babesia bigemina, contains conserved, immunodominant B-cell epitopes that induce antibodies that block merozoite invasion. Parasitology 2019; 146:1646-54. [PMID: 31452491 DOI: 10.1017/S0031182019001161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Bovine babesiosis is the most important protozoan disease transmitted by ticks. In Plasmodium falciparum, another Apicomplexa protozoan, the interaction of rhoptry neck protein 2 (RON2) with apical membrane antigen-1 (AMA-1) has been described to have a key role in the invasion process. To date, RON2 has not been described in Babesia bigemina, the causal agent of bovine babesiosis in the Americas. In this work, we found a ron2 gene in the B. bigemina genome. RON2 encodes a protein that is 1351 amino acids long, has an identity of 64% (98% coverage) with RON2 of B. bovis and contains the CLAG domain, a conserved domain in Apicomplexa. B. bigemina ron2 is a single copy gene and it is transcribed and expressed in blood stages as determined by RT-PCR, Western blot, and confocal microscopy. Serum samples from B. bigemina-infected bovines were screened for the presence of RON2-specific antibodies, showing the recognition of conserved B-cell epitopes. Importantly, in vitro neutralization assays showed an inhibitory effect of RON2-specific antibodies on the red blood cell invasion by B. bigemina. Therefore, RON2 is a novel antigen in B. bigemina and contains conserved B-cell epitopes, which induce antibodies that inhibit merozoite invasion.
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Bohaliga GAR, Johnson WC, Taus NS, Hussein HE, Bastos RG, Suarez CE, Scoles GA, Ueti MW. Identification of proteins expressed by Babesia bigemina kinetes. Parasit Vectors 2019; 12:271. [PMID: 31138276 PMCID: PMC6537212 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-019-3531-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2019] [Accepted: 05/23/2019] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Babesia bigemina is an apicomplexan parasite transovarially transmitted via Rhipicephalus ticks that infect red blood cells and causes bovine babesiosis, a poorly controlled severe acute disease in cattle. New methods of control are urgently needed, including the development of transmission blocking vaccines (TBV). Babesia bigemina reproduces sexually in the gut of adult female R. microplus upon acquisition following a blood meal. Sexual reproduction results in zygotes that infect gut epithelial cells to transform into kinete stage parasites, which invade tick ovaries and infects the egg mass. The subsequent tick generation transmits B. bigemina upon feeding on bovine hosts. An important limitation for developing novel TBV is that the pattern of protein expression in B. bigemina tick stages, such as the kinete stage, remain essentially uncharacterized. Results We determined the protein expression profile of three B. bigemina putative tick stage candidates BbiKSP (BBBOND_0206730), CCp2 and CCp3. We found that BbiKSP expression was restricted to B. bigemina kinetes. CCp2 and CCp3, previously shown to be expressed by induced sexual stages, were also expressed by kinetes. Importantly, none of these proteins were expressed by B. bigemina blood stages. Conclusions Babesia bigemina kinetes express BbiKSP, CCp2 and CCp3 proteins, therefore, these proteins may play important roles during B. bigemina development within tick hemolymph and may serve as potential candidate targets for the development of TBV. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-019-3531-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gamila A R Bohaliga
- Program in Vector-borne Diseases, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA
| | - Wendell C Johnson
- Animal Disease Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Pullman, WA, 99164-6630, USA
| | - Naomi S Taus
- Program in Vector-borne Diseases, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA.,Animal Disease Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Pullman, WA, 99164-6630, USA
| | - Hala E Hussein
- Program in Vector-borne Diseases, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA.,Department of Entomology, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, 12613, Egypt
| | - Reginaldo G Bastos
- Program in Vector-borne Diseases, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA
| | - Carlos E Suarez
- Program in Vector-borne Diseases, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA.,Animal Disease Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Pullman, WA, 99164-6630, USA
| | - Glen A Scoles
- Program in Vector-borne Diseases, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA.,Animal Disease Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Pullman, WA, 99164-6630, USA
| | - Massaro W Ueti
- Program in Vector-borne Diseases, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA. .,Animal Disease Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Pullman, WA, 99164-6630, USA. .,The Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164-70403, USA.
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Antunes S, Couto J, Ferrolho J, Sanches GS, Merino Charrez JO, De la Cruz Hernández N, Mazuz M, Villar M, Shkap V, de la Fuente J, Domingos A. Transcriptome and Proteome Response of Rhipicephalus annulatus Tick Vector to Babesia bigemina Infection. Front Physiol 2019; 10:318. [PMID: 31001128 PMCID: PMC6454348 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00318] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2019] [Accepted: 03/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
A system biology approach was used to gain insight into tick biology and interactions between vector and pathogen. Rhipicephalus annulatus is one of the main vectors of Babesia bigemina which has a massive impact on animal health. It is vital to obtain more information about this relationship, to better understand tick and pathogen biology, pathogen transmission dynamics, and new potential control approaches. In ticks, salivary glands (SGs) play a key role during pathogen infection and transmission. RNA sequencing obtained from uninfected and B. bigemina infected SGs obtained from fed female ticks resulted in 6823 and 6475 unigenes, respectively. From these, 360 unigenes were found to be differentially expressed (p < 0.05). Reversed phase liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry identified a total of 3679 tick proteins. Among them 406 were differently represented in response to Babesia infection. The omics data obtained suggested that Babesia infection lead to a reduction in the levels of mRNA and proteins (n = 237 transcripts, n = 212 proteins) when compared to uninfected controls. Integrated transcriptomics and proteomics datasets suggested a key role for stress response and apoptosis pathways in response to infection. Thus, six genes coding for GP80, death-associated protein kinase (DAPK-1), bax inhibitor-1 related (BI-1), heat shock protein (HSP), heat shock transcription factor (PHSTF), and queuine trna-ribosyltransferase (QtRibosyl) were selected and RNA interference (RNAi) performed. Gene silencing was obtained for all genes except phstf. Knockdown of gp80, dapk-1, and bi-1 led to a significant increase in Babesia infection levels while hsp and QtRibosyl knockdown resulted in a non-significant decrease of infection levels when compared to the respective controls. Gene knockdown did not affect tick survival, but engorged female weight and egg production were affected in the gp80, dapk-1, and QtRibosyl-silenced groups in comparison to controls. These results advanced our understanding of tick-Babesia molecular interactions, and suggested new tick antigens as putative targets for vaccination to control tick infestations and pathogen infection/transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Antunes
- Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Joana Couto
- Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Joana Ferrolho
- Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Gustavo Seron Sanches
- Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
| | | | - Ned De la Cruz Hernández
- Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Ciudad Victoria, Mexico
| | | | - Margarita Villar
- SaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC, CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Varda Shkap
- Kimron Veterinary Institute, Bet Dagan, Israel
| | - José de la Fuente
- SaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC, CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain.,Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, United States
| | - Ana Domingos
- Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
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Gonzalez J, Echaide I, Pabón A, Gabriel Piñeros JJ, Blair S, Tobón-Castaño A. Babesiosis prevalence in malaria-endemic regions of Colombia. J Vector Borne Dis 2019; 55:222-229. [PMID: 30618449 DOI: 10.4103/0972-9062.249480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Background & objectives : The presence of Babesia spp in humans, bovine cattle and ticks (the transmitting vector) has not been well characterized in Colombia. Babesia infection in humans can be overlooked due to similarity of the disease symptoms with malaria specially in the regions where malaria is endemic. The aim of the present work was to study the frequency of Babesia infection in humans, bovines and ticks in a malaria endemic region of Colombia, and explore the possible relationship of infection with host and the environmental factors. Methods : A cross-sectional study was carried out between August 2014 and March 2015 to determine the frequency of B. bovis and B. bigemina infection in a sample of 300 humans involved in cattle raising, in 202 bovines; and in 515 ticks obtained from these subjects, using molecular (PCR), microscopic and serological methods. In addition, the demographic, ecological and zootechnical factors associated with the presence of Babesia, were explored. Results : In the bovine population, the prevalence of infection was 14.4% (29/202); the highest risk of infection was found in cattle under nine months of age (OR = 23.9, CI 8.10-94.30, p = 0.0). In humans, a prevalence of 2% (6/300) was found; four of these six cases were positive for B. bovis. Self-report of fever in the last seven days in the positive cases was found to be associated with Babesia infection (Incidence rate ratio = 9.08; CI 1.34-61.10, p = 0.02). The frequency of B. bigemina infection in the collected ticks was 18.5% (30/162). Interpretation & conclusion : The study established the presence of Babesia spp in humans, bovines and ticks. The most prevalent species responsible for babesiosis in humans and bovines was B. bovis, while B. bigemina was the species most frequently found in the tick population. The results contribute to the knowledge of the epidemiology of babesiosis in the country and can provide guidelines for the epidemiological surveillance of this non-malarial febrile illness in humans as well as cattle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliana Gonzalez
- Malaria Group, Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Ignacio Echaide
- Immunology and Parasitology Laboratory, Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), Rafaela, Argentina
| | - Adriana Pabón
- Malaria Group, Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
| | | | - Silvia Blair
- Malaria Group, Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
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Hector E, Elelu N, Ferrolho J, Couto J, Sanches G, Antunes S, Domingos A, Eisler M. PCR detection of Ehrlichia ruminantium and Babesia bigemina in cattle from Kwara State, Nigeria: unexpected absence of infection. Parasitol Res 2019; 118:1025-1029. [PMID: 30656410 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-019-06204-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2018] [Accepted: 01/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Ticks and tick-borne diseases (TBDs) continue to pose an insidious and ever-present threat to livestock and livelihoods across the globe. Two of the most significant TBDs of cattle in Africa are heartwater and babesioisis, caused by Ehrlichia ruminantium and Babesia bigemina respectively. Both pathogens are endemic in Nigeria. However, to date, little data has been published regarding the number of cattle infected. In this study, blood samples were collected from cattle of the Kwara State, north-central Nigeria. Probe-based quantitative PCR (qPCR) and semi-nested PCR were used to investigate the presence of both pathogens, respectively. Our study found all samples (n = 157) to be surprisingly negative for both B. bigemina and E. ruminantium. These results contribute new information on the current burden of these two pathogens in Kwara State and may be helpful in informing more effective targeting of control strategies in Nigeria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elkie Hector
- Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol, BS40 5DU, UK.
| | - Nusirat Elelu
- Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol, BS40 5DU, UK
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria
| | - Joana Ferrolho
- Global Health and Tropical Medicine-Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Rua de Junqueira 100, 1349-008, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Joana Couto
- Global Health and Tropical Medicine-Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Rua de Junqueira 100, 1349-008, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Gustavo Sanches
- Global Health and Tropical Medicine-Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Rua de Junqueira 100, 1349-008, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Sandra Antunes
- Global Health and Tropical Medicine-Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Rua de Junqueira 100, 1349-008, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Ana Domingos
- Global Health and Tropical Medicine-Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Rua de Junqueira 100, 1349-008, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Mark Eisler
- Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol, BS40 5DU, UK
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37
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Kundave VR, Ram H, Banerjee PS, Garg R, Mahendran K, Ravikumar GVPPS, Tiwari AK. Development of multiplex PCR assay for concurrent detection of tick borne haemoparasitic infections in bovines. Acta Parasitol 2018; 63:759-765. [PMID: 30367760 DOI: 10.1515/ap-2018-0090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2018] [Accepted: 07/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
This study describes development and evaluation of a multiplex PCR assay for simultaneous detection of Theileria annulata, Babesia bigemina and Anaplasma marginale infections in bovines. The assay was developed using parasites specific genomic DNA and three sets of PCR primers targeting the Tams1, 18S rRNA and 16S rRNA genes of T. annulata, B. bigemina and A. marginale, respectively. Blood samples collected from a total of 461 bovines, suspected for haemoparasitic infections, were examined microscopically to record the status of infection and simultaneously, genomic DNA extracted from these blood samples were utilized for the optimization and validation of multiplex PCR assay. Microscopic examination of blood samples revealed presence of single and multiple species of haemoparasites in 25.8% and 2.4% samples, respectively. Results of multiplex PCR revealed the presence of single haemoparasitic species infection in 159 cases (34.5%), whereas mixed infection was recorded in 82 (17.8%) samples. Occurrence of individual species infection detected by mPCR in the study was 26.03% (120/461) for T. annulata, 3.25% (15/461) for B. bigemina and 5.20% (24/461) for A. marginale. The detection limit of multiplex PCR assay was at the template dilutions of 10-6, 10-6 and 10-4, which corresponded to 0.1 pg, 0.1 pg and 10.0 pg of DNA for T. annulata, A. marginale, and B. bigemina, respectively. Based on the high diagnostic sensitivity and throughput, multiplex PCR assay developed in the present study could be exploited as a tool to conduct large-scale epidemiological survey for tick-borne haemoparasitic infection of bovines.
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MESH Headings
- Anaplasma/genetics
- Anaplasma/isolation & purification
- Anaplasmosis/diagnosis
- Animals
- Antigens, Protozoan/genetics
- Babesia/genetics
- Babesia/isolation & purification
- Babesiosis/diagnosis
- Babesiosis/parasitology
- Cattle
- Cattle Diseases/diagnosis
- Cattle Diseases/parasitology
- Cloning, Molecular
- DNA, Bacterial/blood
- DNA, Bacterial/chemistry
- DNA, Bacterial/isolation & purification
- DNA, Protozoan/blood
- DNA, Protozoan/chemistry
- DNA, Protozoan/isolation & purification
- Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction/veterinary
- RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics
- RNA, Ribosomal, 18S/genetics
- Reproducibility of Results
- Sensitivity and Specificity
- Theileria annulata/genetics
- Theileria annulata/isolation & purification
- Theileriasis/diagnosis
- Theileriasis/parasitology
- Tick-Borne Diseases/diagnosis
- Tick-Borne Diseases/veterinary
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Affiliation(s)
- V R Kundave
- Division of Parasitology, ICAR-IVRI, Izatnagar-243122 India
| | - Hira Ram
- Division of Parasitology, ICAR-IVRI, Izatnagar-243122 India
| | | | - Rajat Garg
- Division of Parasitology, ICAR-IVRI, Izatnagar-243122 India
| | - K Mahendran
- Division of Veterinary Medicine, ICAR-IVRI, Izatnagar-243122 India
| | | | - Ashok K Tiwari
- Division of Biological Standardization, ICAR-IVRI, Izatnagar-243122 India
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Pradeep RK, Nimisha M, Sruthi MK, Vidya P, Amrutha BM, Kurbet PS, Kumar KGA, Varghese A, Deepa CK, Dinesh CN, Chandrasekhar L, Juliet S, Pradeepkumar PR, Ravishankar C, Ghosh S, Ravindran R. Molecular characterization of South Indian field isolates of bovine Babesia spp. and Anaplasma spp. Parasitol Res 2019; 118:617-30. [PMID: 30560519 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-018-6172-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2018] [Accepted: 12/03/2018] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Ticks and tick-borne diseases (TTBDs) are considered major causes of economic loss in the livestock sector which incur an annual control cost estimated at US$ 498.7 million in India. Among these diseases, babesiosis, theileriosis and anaplasmosis are listed among the top ten livestock diseases in India and cause significant mortality and morbidity among cattle. However, molecular characterization of bovine Babesia and Anaplasma species are scant; thus, the aim of this study is to perform molecular characterization of field isolates of Babesia spp. and Anaplasma spp. infecting bovines in Kerala, South India. Blood smears and whole blood samples were collected from a total of 199 apparently healthy adult female cattle in Kerala. Based on microscopy, Babesia spp., Theileria orientalis and Anaplasma spp. organisms were detected in 9 (4.5%), 40 (20%) and 6 (3%) samples, respectively. Genus-specific polymerase chain reactions for amplification of 18S rRNA of Babesia spp. and 16S rRNA of Anaplasma spp. revealed positive results with 18 (9%) and 14 (7%) samples. The phylogenetic analysis of 18S rRNA gene sequences of Babesia spp. confirmed the existence of two different populations of Babesia spp. circulating in the blood of infected cattle viz., Babesia bigemina and a Babesia sp. genetically related to Babesia ovata. Further phylogenetic analysis using rap-1a sequences of isolates of B. bigemina revealed higher levels of genetic heterogeneity. However, the field isolates of B. bigemina displayed only slight heterogeneity when the rap-1c gene was examined. Polymerase chain reaction followed by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene of Anaplasma spp. revealed the existence of Anaplasma marginale, Anaplasma bovis and Anaplasma platys in bovines in South India. Based on msp4 gene sequences, all the field isolates of A. marginale from Kerala were clustered in a single clade with others isolated from around the world. To our knowledge, this study forms the first report on occurrence of B. ovata-like parasites and A. platys in cattle from India.
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Bohaliga GAR, Johnson WC, Taus NS, Hussein HE, Bastos RG, Suarez CE, O’Connor R, Ueti MW. Identification of a putative methyltransferase gene of Babesia bigemina as a novel molecular biomarker uniquely expressed in parasite tick stages. Parasit Vectors 2018; 11:480. [PMID: 30143025 PMCID: PMC6109354 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-018-3052-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2018] [Accepted: 08/06/2018] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Bovine babesiosis is caused by apicomplexan pathogens of the genus Babesia such as B. bigemina and B. bovis. These tick-borne pathogens have a complex life-cycle involving asexual multiplication in vertebrate hosts and sexual reproduction in invertebrate vectors. In the tick midgut, extracellular Babesia parasites transform into gametes that fuse to form zygotes. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie formation of extracellular Babesia tick stages is an important step towards developing control strategies for preventing tick infection and subsequent parasite transmission. RESULTS We induced B. bigemina sexual stages in vitro by exposing parasites to Tris 2-carboxyethyl phosphine (TCEP). Subsequently, we identified a novel putative methyltransferase gene (BBBOND_0204030) that is expressed uniquely in all B. bigemina tick stages but not in blood stages. In vitro TCEP-exposed B. bigemina presented diverse morphology including parasites with long projections, round forms and clusters of round forms indicative of sexual stage induction. We confirmed the development of sexual stages by detecting upregulation of previously defined B. bigemina sexual stage marker genes, ccp2 and 3, and their respective protein expression in TCEP-induced B. bigemina cultures. Next, transcription analysis of in vitro TCEP-induced B. bigemina culture based on an in silico derived list of homologs of Plasmodium falciparum gamete-specific genes demonstrated differential expression of the gene BBBOND_0204030 in induced cells. Further examination of ex vivo infected ticks demonstrated that BBBOND_0204030 is transcribed by multiple stages of B. bigemina during parasite development in tick midgut, ovary and hemolymph. Interestingly, ex vivo results confirmed our in vitro observation that blood stages of B. bigemina do not express BBBOND_0204030 and validated the in vitro system of inducing sexual stages. CONCLUSIONS Herein we describe the identification of a B. bigemina gene transcribed exclusively by parasites infecting ticks using a novel method of inducing B. bigemina sexual stages in vitro. We propose that this gene can be used as a marker for parasite development within the tick vector. Together, these tools will facilitate our understanding of parasite-tick interactions, the identification of novel vaccine targets and, consequently, the development of additional strategies to control bovine babesiosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gamila A. R. Bohaliga
- Program in Vector-borne Diseases, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, 99164 USA
| | - Wendell C. Johnson
- Animal Diseases Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Pullman, Washington, 99164-6630 USA
| | - Naomi S. Taus
- Program in Vector-borne Diseases, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, 99164 USA
- Animal Diseases Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Pullman, Washington, 99164-6630 USA
| | - Hala E. Hussein
- Program in Vector-borne Diseases, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, 99164 USA
- Department of Entomology, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, 12613 Egypt
| | - Reginaldo G. Bastos
- Program in Vector-borne Diseases, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, 99164 USA
| | - Carlos E. Suarez
- Animal Diseases Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Pullman, Washington, 99164-6630 USA
| | - Roberta O’Connor
- Program in Vector-borne Diseases, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, 99164 USA
| | - Massaro W. Ueti
- Program in Vector-borne Diseases, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, 99164 USA
- Animal Diseases Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Pullman, Washington, 99164-6630 USA
- The Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, 99164-70403 USA
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Silva MG, Villarino NF, Knowles DP, Suarez CE. Assessment of Draxxin ® (tulathromycin) as an inhibitor of in vitro growth of Babesia bovis, Babesia bigemina and Theileria equi. Int J Parasitol Drugs Drug Resist 2018; 8:265-70. [PMID: 29689532 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2018.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2018] [Revised: 04/10/2018] [Accepted: 04/12/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Babesia bovis, Babesia bigemina and Theileria equi are worldwide tick-borne hemoprotozoan that cause diseases characterized by fever, anemia, weight loss and abortion. A common feature of these diseases are transition from acute to chronic phases, in which parasites may persist in the host for life, and becoming a reservoir for tick transmission. The live-attenuated vaccines for B. bovis and B. bigemina are not available for worldwide use due to legal restrictions and other concerns such as potential erythrocyte antigen and pathogen contamination, and a vaccine for T. equi is not available. The use of chemotherapeutics is essential to treat and control these diseases, but several studies have shown the development of drug-resistance by these parasites, and safe and effective alternative drugs are needed. Tulathromycin, a macrolide antibiotic, has proven to be effective against a vast range of bacteria and Plasmodium yoelli, a Babesia and Theileria related intra-erythrocytic apicomplexan. Draxxin® (tulathromycin) is currently licensed to treat infections that cause respiratory diseases in cattle in several countries. In this study, the activity of Draxxin® was tested in vitro on cultured B. bovis, B. bigemina and T. equi. Addition of the drug to in vitro cultures resulted in cessation of parasite replication of the three species tested, B. bovis, B. bigemina and T. equi, with estimated IC50 of 16.7 ± 0.6 nM; 6.2 ± 0.2 nM and 2.4 ± 0.1 nM, respectively, at 72 h. Furthermore, neither parasites nor parasite DNA were detectable in cultures treated with IC100, suggesting Draxxin® is a highly effective anti-Babesia/Theileria drug. Importantly, the IC50 calculated for Draxxin® for the Babesia/Theileria parasites tested is lower that the IC50 calculated for some drugs currently in use to control these parasites. Collectively, the data strongly support in vivo testing of Draxxin® for the treatment of bovine babesiosis and equine piroplasmosis. Chemotherapeutics are critical to treat bovine babesiosis and equine theileriosis. Study of the activity of Draxxin® in vitro B. bovis, B. bigemina, T. equi cultures. Addition of Draxxin® to the cultures resulted in cessation of parasite replication. IC50 (nM) of 16.7; 6.2 and 2.4 to B. bovis, B. bigemina and T. equi, respectively. Results suggests that Draxxin® is a highly effective anti-Babesia/Theileria drug.
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Battsetseg B, Sivakumar T, Naranbaatar K, Narantsatsral S, Myagmarsuren P, Enkhtaivan B, Davaasuren B, Mizushima D, Weerasooriya G, Igarashi I, Battur B, Yokoyama N. Serosurvey of Babesia bovis and Babesia bigemina in cattle in Mongolia. Vet Parasitol Reg Stud Reports 2018; 13:85-91. [PMID: 31014894 DOI: 10.1016/j.vprsr.2018.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2017] [Revised: 03/05/2018] [Accepted: 04/12/2018] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Mongolia is an agriculturally rich country with large livestock populations that contribute significantly to its national economy. However, the export market for live animals and livestock products is often constrained for various reasons including infectious diseases. Babesia bovis and B. bigemina, which are bovine hemoprotozoan parasites, cause severe forms of clinical babesiosis, in cattle. However, a country-wide survey to determine the exposure rates in various provinces in Mongolia was not conducted to determine the risk for infections with these parasite species. Therefore, we investigated the frequency of antibodies to B. bovis and B. bigemina in cattle reared throughout Mongolia. B. bovis-and B. bigemina-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were used to screen the serum samples sourced from 1946 cattle in 19 of 21 provinces and a provincial municipality (Ulaanbaatar) in Mongolia. We found 351 (18.0%) samples positive for B. bovis and 435 (22.4%) samples positive for B. bigemina infections. The B. bovis- and B. bigemina-positive rates ranged from 0.8 to 61.5% and 4.0 to 50.6%, respectively, among the surveyed provinces. The positive rates of B. bovis and B. bigemina infections were relatively higher in the provinces located in northernmost, northern, eastern, southeastern, and southern Mongolia. Additionally, the B. bovis- and B. bigemina-positive rates were not significantly different between females (18.2 and 22.2%, respectively) and males (17.2 and 18.8%, respectively) or between the 1-3-year-old (16.2 and 19.4%, respectively) and >3-year-old (17.1 and 20.9%, respectively) age groups. The differential seropositivity for B. bovis and B. bigemina infections among the provinces may reflect the variations in the risk of cattle being infected with these parasite species. The findings of the present study highlight the need for country-wide control measures, including tick control programs, to minimize the rates of B. bovis and B. bigemina infections in Mongolian cattle.
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Hernández-Silva DJ, Valdez-Espinoza UM, Mercado-Uriostegui MA, Aguilar-Tipacamú G, Ramos-Aragón JA, Hernández-Ortiz R, Ueti M, Mosqueda J. Immunomolecular Characterization of MIC-1, a Novel Antigen in Babesia bigemina, Which Contains Conserved and Immunodominant B-Cell Epitopes that Induce Neutralizing Antibodies. Vet Sci 2018; 5:E32. [PMID: 29570654 DOI: 10.3390/vetsci5020032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2018] [Revised: 03/19/2018] [Accepted: 03/21/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Babesia bigemina is one of the most prevalent species causing bovine babesiosis around the world. Antigens involved in host cell invasion are vaccine targets for this disease but are largely unknown in this species. The invasion process of Babesia spp. into erythrocytes involves membrane proteins from the apical complex. A protein stored in the micronemes, called Micronemal Protein 1 (MIC-1), contains a sialic acid binding domain that participates in the invasion process of host cells and is a vaccine candidate in other apicomplexan parasites. It is not known if there is a homologous gene for mic-1 in B. bigemina. Therefore, the aim of this study was to characterize the mic-1 gene homologue in Babesia bigemina. A gene was found with a microneme adhesive repeat (MAR) domain in the predicted amino acid sequence. Transcription was determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Subsequently, antibodies against peptides containing conserved B-cell epitopes were used to confirm the expression of MIC-1 in intraerythrocytic merozoites. The presence of anti MIC-1 antibodies in cattle naturally infected with B. bigemina was determined and up to 97.4% of the cattle sera (113 out of 116) identified MIC-1 using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods. Finally, antibodies against MIC-1 were able to block 70% merozoite invasion in-vitro.
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SIVAKUMAR T, LAN DTB, LONG PT, VIET LQ, WEERASOORIYA G, KUME A, SUGANUMA K, IGARASHI I, YOKOYAMA N. Serological and molecular surveys of Babesia bovis and Babesia bigemina among native cattle and cattle imported from Thailand in Hue, Vietnam. J Vet Med Sci 2018; 80:333-336. [PMID: 29249730 PMCID: PMC5836773 DOI: 10.1292/jvms.17-0549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2017] [Accepted: 11/26/2017] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Serum and DNA from blood samples collected from Vietnamese yellow cattle (n=101) and cattle imported from Thailand (n=54) at a Vietnamese slaughter house were screened for Babesia bovis and Babesia bigemina infections by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and PCR. The positive rates determined by ELISA (B. bovis and B. bigemina) or PCR (B. bigemina) in the Vietnamese cattle were significantly higher than those found in Thai cattle. Some PCR-positive Vietnamese animals were ELISA-negative, whereas all PCR-positive Thai cattle were ELISA-positive, suggesting that the animals were infected in Thailand. Importing Babesia-infected cattle may lead to the introduction of new parasite strains, possibly compromising the development of anti-Babesia immune control strategies in Vietnam.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thillaiampalam SIVAKUMAR
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro
University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555,
Japan
| | - Dinh Thi Bich LAN
- Hue University Institute of Biotechnology, Phu Thuong
Commune, Phu Vang District, Thua Thien Hue Province 47000, Vietnam
| | - Phung Thang LONG
- University of Agriculture and Forestry, Hue University, 102
Phung Hung Street, Hue 47000, Vietnam
| | - Le Quoc VIET
- Hue University Institute of Biotechnology, Phu Thuong
Commune, Phu Vang District, Thua Thien Hue Province 47000, Vietnam
| | - Gayani WEERASOORIYA
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro
University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555,
Japan
- Veterinary Research Institute, P.O. Box 28, Peradeniya, Sri
Lanka
| | - Aiko KUME
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro
University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555,
Japan
| | - Keisuke SUGANUMA
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro
University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555,
Japan
- Research Center for Global Agromedicine, Obihiro University
of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan
| | - Ikuo IGARASHI
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro
University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555,
Japan
| | - Naoaki YOKOYAMA
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro
University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555,
Japan
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Gomes AF, Neves L. Rhipicephalus microplus (Acarina, Ixodidae) in Angola: evidence of its establishment and expansion. Exp Appl Acarol 2018; 74:117-122. [PMID: 29380168 DOI: 10.1007/s10493-017-0207-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2017] [Accepted: 12/19/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Livestock constitutes a fundamental asset for the livelihood of rural communities in Angola. Rhipicephalus microplus (Acarina, Ixodidae) is considered to be the most important external parasite impacting the cattle industry in the world. The present work used a cross-sectional study on tick species infesting cattle in smallholder and commercial farms, to investigate the presence of R. microplus in Angola. This species was found to be recently established in certain areas of Cuanza-Sul and Benguela provinces. Furthermore, taking the current understanding of the pattern of dispersal of R. microplus into account, it is probable that this species is already present in other areas of the country. Animal movement without the necessary control measures facilitates the dispersal of this tick species. Consequently, R. microplus is causing rapid displacement of the native tick species, Rhipicephalus decoloratus. The presence of R. microplus in Angola constitutes a serious problem and poses a potential threat to the livestock sector as well as being an important risk factor for the sustainability of the livelihood strategies developed by smallholders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adriano F Gomes
- Instituto de Investigação Veterinária, Laboratório Regional de Veterinária da Humpata, Lubango, Angola
| | - Luis Neves
- Vectors and Vector Borne Diseases Research Program, Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa.
- Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Av. de Moçambique Km 1.5, Maputo, Mozambique.
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Camacho-Nuez M, Hernández-Silva DJ, Castañeda-Ortiz EJ, Paredes-Martínez ME, Rocha-Martínez MK, Alvarez-Sánchez ME, Mercado-Curiel RF, Aguilar-Tipacamu G, Mosqueda J. Hap2, a novel gene in Babesia bigemina is expressed in tick stages, and specific antibodies block zygote formation. Parasit Vectors 2017; 10:568. [PMID: 29132437 PMCID: PMC5683354 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-017-2510-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2017] [Accepted: 10/30/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Bovine babesiosis is a tick-borne disease caused by the protozoan parasites of the genus Babesia. In their host vector, Babesia spp. undergo sexual reproduction. Therefore, the development of sexual stages and the subsequent formation of the zygote are essential for the parasite to invade the intestinal cells of the vector tick and continue its life-cycle. HAP2/GCS1 is a protein identified in plants, protozoan parasites and other organisms that has an important role during membrane fusion in fertilization processes. The identification and characterization of HAP-2 protein in Babesia would be very significant to understand the biology of the parasite and to develop a transmission-blocking vaccine in the future. Results To isolate and sequence the hap2 gene DNA from an infected bovine with Babesia bigemina was purified. The hap2 gene was amplified, cloned and sequenced. The sequences of hap2 from four geographically different strains showed high conservation at the amino acid level, including the typical structure with a signal peptide and the HAP2/GSC domain. Antisera anti-HAP2 against the conserved extracellular region of the HAP2 amino acid sequence were obtained from rabbits. The expression of hap2 in the host and vector tissues was analyzed by using semi-quantitative RT-PCR, and the protein was examined by western blot and immunofluorescence. Based on the RT-PCR and WB results, HAP2 is expressed in both, sexual stages induced in vitro, and in infected ticks as well. We did not detect any expression in asexual erythrocytic stages of B. bigemina, relevantly anti-HAP2 specific antibodies were able to block zygotes formation in vitro. Conclusion Babesia bigemina HAP2 is expressed only in tick-infecting stages, and specific antibodies block zygote formation. Further studies regarding the function of HAP2 during tick infection may provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of sexual reproduction of the parasite. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-017-2510-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minerva Camacho-Nuez
- Posgrado en Ciencias Genómicas, Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México, San Lorenzo, esquina Roberto Gayol, Colonia del Valle Sur, Delegación Benito Juárez, C.P. 03100, Mexico D.F, Mexico
| | - Diego Josimar Hernández-Silva
- Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Av. de las Ciencias s/n Col Juriquilla, C.P, 76230, Queretaro, Mexico
| | - Elizabeth Jacqueline Castañeda-Ortiz
- Posgrado en Ciencias Genómicas, Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México, San Lorenzo, esquina Roberto Gayol, Colonia del Valle Sur, Delegación Benito Juárez, C.P. 03100, Mexico D.F, Mexico
| | - María Elena Paredes-Martínez
- Posgrado en Ciencias Genómicas, Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México, San Lorenzo, esquina Roberto Gayol, Colonia del Valle Sur, Delegación Benito Juárez, C.P. 03100, Mexico D.F, Mexico.,Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Av. de las Ciencias s/n Col Juriquilla, C.P, 76230, Queretaro, Mexico
| | - Marisol Karina Rocha-Martínez
- Posgrado en Ciencias Genómicas, Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México, San Lorenzo, esquina Roberto Gayol, Colonia del Valle Sur, Delegación Benito Juárez, C.P. 03100, Mexico D.F, Mexico
| | - María Elizbeth Alvarez-Sánchez
- Posgrado en Ciencias Genómicas, Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México, San Lorenzo, esquina Roberto Gayol, Colonia del Valle Sur, Delegación Benito Juárez, C.P. 03100, Mexico D.F, Mexico
| | | | - Gabriela Aguilar-Tipacamu
- Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Av. de las Ciencias s/n Col Juriquilla, C.P, 76230, Queretaro, Mexico
| | - Juan Mosqueda
- Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Av. de las Ciencias s/n Col Juriquilla, C.P, 76230, Queretaro, Mexico.
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Alhaboubi A, He L, McCormack K, Gustafson A, Holman PJ. Recovery of bovine Babesia spp. after long-term cryostorage and comparison of bovine donor erythrocytes and serum. Vet Parasitol 2017; 243:109-114. [PMID: 28807277 DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2017.06.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2017] [Revised: 06/17/2017] [Accepted: 06/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Cultured Babesia bovis and Babesia bigemina were recovered from liquid nitrogen storage nearly 30 years after they were cryopreserved. Four cattle were compared as donors of erythrocytes and serum for microaerophilous stationary phase (MASP) cultures for recovery of B. bigemina. Erythrocytes and serum from only one (#913) of the four animals supported growth of B. bigemina. Two B. bigemina (frozen in 1986 and 1987) and two B. bovis (both frozen in 1986) cryostocks were recovered from liquid nitrogen storage and all four recovered and thrived in #913 erythrocytes and serum. In the third passage after recovery, B. bovis cultures were cryopreserved. Six months later they were successfully recovered using #913 erythrocytes and serum. This study shows that B. bovis and B. bigemina stored nearly 30 years in liquid nitrogen can be successfully recovered in the MASP system. This study also confirms previous observations that selection of a suitable bovine donor of erythrocytes and serum is critical to the success of the culture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amer Alhaboubi
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Lan He
- Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Kimberly McCormack
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Amber Gustafson
- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, National Veterinary Services Laboratories, Ames, IA, USA
| | - Patricia J Holman
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
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Taioe MO, Motloang MY, Namangala B, Chota A, Molefe NI, Musinguzi SP, Suganuma K, Hayes P, Tsilo TJ, Chainey J, Inoue N, Thekisoe OMM. Characterization of tabanid flies (Diptera: Tabanidae) in South Africa and Zambia and detection of protozoan parasites they are harbouring. Parasitology 2017; 144:1162-78. [PMID: 28502276 DOI: 10.1017/S0031182017000440] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Tabanids are haematophagous flies feeding on livestock and wildlife. In the absence of information on the relationship of tabanid flies and protozoan parasites in South Africa and Zambia, the current study was aimed at characterizing tabanid flies collected in these two countries as well as detecting protozoan parasites they are harbouring. A total of 527 tabanid flies were collected whereby 70·2% were from South Africa and 29·8% were from Zambia. Morphological analysis revealed a total of five different genera collected from the sampled areas namely: Ancala, Atylotus, Haematopota, Philoliche and Tabanus. DNA extracted from South African Tabanus par and Tabanus taeniola tested positive for the presence of Trypanosoma congolense (Savannah) and Trypanosoma theileri whilst one member from T. par was positive for Trypanosoma brucei species. DNA extracted from Zambian tabanid flies tested positive for the presence of Besnoitia species at 1·27% (2/157), Babesia bigemina 5·73% (9/157), Theileria parva 30·11% (30/157) and 9·82% (14/157) for Trypanosoma evansi. This study is the first to report on relationship of Babesia and Theileria parasites with tabanid flies. Further investigations are required to determine the role of tabanids in transmission of the detected protozoan parasites in livestock and wildlife in South Africa and Zambia.
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Bhat SA, Singh NK, Singh H, Rath SS. Molecular prevalence of Babesia bigemina in Rhipicephalus microplus ticks infesting cross-bred cattle of Punjab, India. Parasite Epidemiol Control 2017; 2:85-90. [PMID: 29774285 PMCID: PMC5952690 DOI: 10.1016/j.parepi.2017.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2015] [Revised: 02/10/2017] [Accepted: 04/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Babesiosis is an economically important tick-borne apicomplexan protozoan disease of cattle in tropical and subtropical regions. In the present study, Rhipicephalus microplus engorged female ticks were collected from 135 apparently healthy cattle from different agro-climatic zones of Punjab, India, to investigate the carrier status of Babesia bigemina infection in vector tick by using microscopy and PCR based assays. PCR when applied on DNA extracted from the egg masses harvested from ticks showed 1.48% (2/135) samples as positive, whereas 4.44% (6/135) samples were positive when product of primary PCR was used as template in nPCR. Further, among the DNA samples isolated from the unfed larval stages that emerged from egg masses laid by ticks, only 1.48% (2/135) samples were detected as positive for B. bigemina in PCR, while 7.41% (10/135) samples were detected positive in nPCR assay. Statistically, non-significant (p > 0.05) difference in prevalence rates was observed across different agro-climatic zones and between different age groups of cattle from which engorged ticks were collected. It can, thus, be concluded that prevalence of B. bigemina in the vector tick, R. microplus in Punjab state of India indicates an endemic status of the organism and a further study is needed for the management and control of the bovine babesiosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- S A Bhat
- Department of Veterinary Parasitology, College of Veterinary Science, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, 141 004, Punjab, India
| | - N K Singh
- Department of Veterinary Parasitology, College of Veterinary Science, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, 141 004, Punjab, India
| | - H Singh
- Department of Veterinary Parasitology, College of Veterinary Science, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, 141 004, Punjab, India
| | - S S Rath
- Department of Veterinary Parasitology, College of Veterinary Science, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, 141 004, Punjab, India
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G Silva M, Knowles DP, Antunes S, Domingos A, Esteves MA, Suarez CE. Inhibition of the in vitro growth of Babesia bigemina, Babesia caballi and Theileria equi parasites by trifluralin analogues. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2017; 8:593-597. [PMID: 28416183 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2017.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2016] [Revised: 03/31/2017] [Accepted: 04/04/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Bovine and equine babesiosis caused by Babesia bovis, Babesia bigemina and Babesia caballi, along with equine theileriosis caused by Theileria equi are global tick-borne hemoprotozoan diseases characterized by fever, anemia, weight losses and abortions. A common feature of these diseases are transition from acute to chronic phases, in which parasites may persist in the hosts for life. Antiprotozoal drugs are important for managing infection and disease. Previous research demonstrated that trifluralin analogues, designated (TFLAs) 1-15, which specifically bind to regions of alpha-tubulin protein in plants and protozoan parasites, have the ability to inhibit the in vitro growth of B. bovis. The inhibitory activity of TFLAs 1-15 minus TFLA 5 was tested in vitro against cultured B. bigemina, B. caballi and T. equi. The four TFLAs with greatest inhibitory activity were then analyzed for hemolytic activity and toxicity against erythrocytes. All TFLAs tested in the study showed inhibitory effects against the three parasite species. TFLA 2, TFLA 11, TFLA 13 and TFLA 14 were the most effective inhibitors for the three species tested, with estimated IC50 between 5.1 and 10.1μM at 72h. The drug's solvent (DMSO/ethanol) did not statistically affect the growth of the parasites nor cause hemolysis. Also, TFLA 2, 13 and 14 did not cause statistically significant hemolytic activity on bovine and equine erythrocytes at 15μM, and TFLA 2, 11 and 13 had no detectable toxic effects on bovine and equine erythrocytes at 15μM, suggesting that these drugs do not compromise erythrocyte viability. The demonstrated ability of the trifluralin analogues to inhibit in vitro growth of Babesia spp. and Theileria equi, and their lack of toxic effects on erythrocytes supports further in vivo testing and eventually their development as novel alternatives for the treatment of babesiosis and theileriosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta G Silva
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-7040, USA.
| | - Donald P Knowles
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-7040, USA; Animal Disease Research Unit, USDA-ARS, 3003 ADBF, WSU, Pullman, WA, 99163-6630, USA.
| | - Sandra Antunes
- Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Rua da Junqueira 100, 1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Ana Domingos
- Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Rua da Junqueira 100, 1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Maria A Esteves
- Laboratório Nacional de Energia e Geologia, LNEG, Paço do Lumiar, 22, 1649-038 Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Carlos E Suarez
- Animal Disease Research Unit, USDA-ARS, 3003 ADBF, WSU, Pullman, WA, 99163-6630, USA.
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Bal MS, Mahajan V, Filia G, Kaur P, Singh A. Diagnosis and management of bovine babesiosis outbreaks in cattle in Punjab state. Vet World 2016; 9:1370-1374. [PMID: 28096607 PMCID: PMC5234049 DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2016.1370-1374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2016] [Accepted: 11/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Aim: The aim of the present study was to diagnose severe outbreaks of bovine babesiosis in Punjab state, in the year 2015 and to suggest control and preventive measures to animal owners. Materials and Methods: Mortality of animals was recorded in two cattle herd comprising a total of 465 cattle in Sangrur (n=125) and Faridkot (n=340) districts. There was a history of purchase of animals at one farm. 23 blood samples were collected from diseased (n=15) and healthy animals (n=8) for hematological analysis, parasitological, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnosis. Ticks were also collected from animals for identification. Results: Out of 465 cattle at risk, 28 were critically ill and 14 died of disease with morbidity, mortality, and case fatality rate of 6.02%, 3.01%, and 50.00%, respectively. Clinical signs and necropsy findings were suggestive of babesiosis. Ticks collected from both the outbreaks were identified as Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus. Thin blood smears from infected animals (especially with clinical sign of hemoglobinuria) were found positive for Babesia bigemina organisms; however, molecular diagnosis (PCR) further confirmed the disease. Animals were successfully treated with diminazene aceturate, hematinics, and antipyretics. Conclusions: Two fatal outbreaks of babesiosis in cattle were diagnosed with application of conventional parasitological, hematological, and molecular diagnostic techniques. PCR was found to be far more sensitive in detecting the disease, especially in latent infections. Animal owners were advised to follow quarantine measures before mixing new animals in the herd and strategic acaricidal treatments for effective tick control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mandeep Singh Bal
- Animal Disease Research Centre, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary & Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India
| | - Vishal Mahajan
- Animal Disease Research Centre, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary & Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India
| | - Gursimran Filia
- Animal Disease Research Centre, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary & Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India
| | - Paramjit Kaur
- Department of Veterinary Parasitology, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary & Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India
| | - Amarjit Singh
- Animal Disease Research Centre, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary & Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India
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